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HISTORY 



(MAINE.) 



FROM 1804 TO 1883 



-H- ... 

By AN OLD PIONEER. 



B^ AN OLD PIG 



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f TOWN OF HOULTON, % 






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^ JBKARY ■ $ 



Haterhill, Mass. : 

C. C. MORSE & SON, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 

1884. 



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HISTORY 



OF THE 



TOWM OF HOULTON, 



(MAINE ) 



FROM 1804 TO 1883. 



BY AN OLD PION 



EER. 







IIavekhill, Mass. : 
C. C. MORSE & SON, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 

1884. 






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HISTORY OF HOULTON. 



Since of late it has become customar}^ to give the 
historical account of towns in New England, the Avriter 
of the following has, from the novel and extraordinary 
circumstances under which Houlton was settled, been 
induced to make a brief statement of facts connected 
with its rise and progress, for a series of years ; and to 
give a simple, unvarnished statement of facts as they 
occurred. 

As the primitive inhabitants have principally, (as 
must be expected,) passed from the theatre of action, 
perhaps there is uo one more familiar with the incidents 
of the early history of that little colony, who would 
have taken upon himself the trouble and assumed the 
responsibility of the task, than the writer. The reader 
must be sensible that the ciicumstances and events as 
they occurred, are of such a heterogeneous character, 
that they must appear, eveu if judiciously arranged, in 
a desultory, chaotic state, which would require the gifts 
and genius of a Kane or a Livingston to embody in a 
form and phraseology that would endure the criticism 
of a historian. 

In order to give an account of the primitive history of 
Houlton, and of the original Trustees of New Salem 
Academy, we must refer the reader to some extracts 



4 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

from a letter from our venerable friend, the Rev. Al- 
plieus Harding of New Salem, Mass., in reply to a re- 
quest made for information contained in the records of 
New Salem Academy ; he being familiar with the history 
of that institution, having been connected with that 
time-honored school, either as jjupil. Assistant, Preceptor, 
or Trustee, nearly sixty years. Mr. Harding writes : 

"In regard to New Salem Academ3\ I find by the 
records, it was incorporated Feb. 25, 1795, and the orig- 
inal Trustees named in the act of incorporation, were 
Rev. Joel Foster of New Salem, Solomon Reed of Peters- 
ham, Joseph Blodgett of Greenwich, Joseph Kilburn of 
Wendell, David Smead, John Goldsbury, Jonathan War- 
ner, David Saxton, Ebenezer Mattoon, Jr., Daniel Bige- 
low, Martin Kinsley and Ezekiel Kellogg, Esqs., Samuel 
Kendall, Varney Pearce, and Asa Merriam; that in Oct., 
1797, Daniel Bigelow, Varney Pearce, and Rev. Joel 
Foster were chosen a committee to sell the half town- 
ship." 

But it appears from the records that in the autumn 
of 1801 at the annual meeting of the Trustees, Ebenezer 
Mattoon, Samuel C. Allen, and Samuel Dickinson were 
chosen a committee to convey said lands to the following 
persons, viz.: Aaron Putnam one-eighth, $625; Varney 
Pearce, one eighth, $625; Joseph Houlton, $1000; Jolin 
Putnam, $500; Joshua Putnam, $500; Rufus Cowls of 
Amherst, $500; John Chamberlain, $500 ; William Bow- 
man of Hadley, $250 ; Consider Hastings, $250 ; Thomas 
Powers of Greenwich, $250 ; total, $5000. Mr. Harding 
writes, '' These lands, being far from any settlement in 
Maine, at that time were unsalable, and the purchasers 
being involved and unable to sell these lands, concluded 
to dispose of their farms in New Salem and remove into 
the wilderness and make new homes. This deprived 
New Salem of many worthy and good families, and of 
its most public citizens." 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 



In the summer of 1804, Messrs. Joseph Houlton, Aaron 
Putnam and Oliver 'I'aylor, left New Salem for the 
province of Maine — came by land to Bangor, where they 
hired an Indian with his canoe to convey them to the 
river St. John. They proceeded np the Penobscot to 
the Mattawanikeag, thence up the Baskahegan stream 
to the portage of the Schoodic Lake, where the Indian 
proposed to tiiem that he would describe the way, so 
they might pioceed on their journey without him. Mr. 
Houlton having passed the same route before, thought 
from the knowledge he bad of the lake and the country, 
that he could pilot them. The Indian returned and 
they went on, crossing the lake, but they became bewil- 
dered, lost their course, and landed on the east shore, 
where they rambled off in the \\ilderness, got lost and 
were for days without food. They came to a brook, 
where there were fish, but the desideratum was to catch 
them. With Yankee ingenuity and invention, impelled 
by the keen demands of starvation, they took a shirt, 
tied up the neck and arm-holes, bent a stick in the form 
of a hoop, which they fastened to the other end of the 
linen, in the fashion of a dip-net, with which they con- 
trived to outwit the fisii, making captives (^f several 
trout and suckers, which helped to sustain life. Tiiey 
proceeded without guide or compass, wandering through 
swamps, climbii^g over windfalls, camping wherever night 
found them ; exposed to the constant annoyances of the 
black-flies and mosquitos ; thus, wandering in a track- 
less wild, with naught to rouse them from tlieir dreary 
solitude, save the discordant croakings of the crow and 
raven, or the tremulous halloo of the loon, and the 
screechino; of the mimic owl, what must have been their 
emotions at the first discovery of the foot-prints of civ- 
ilization, when they finally reached the bank of the St. 
John, 35 miles below Woodstock. They came to a cot- 
tage, the residence of Mr. Harper, and called for food. 



O HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

The good woman, beholding their sad condition — gar- 
ments torn, limbs scratched and bruised, from the snags 
and bushes, their pale, emaciated features, directly pre- 
pared some fresh salmon, in a manner as simple and 
harmless as possible, of which she gave them sparingly, 
lest the}^ should eat too freely ; her husband being ab- 
sent. Having tai'ried there nntil they became restored, 
by the benevolent and judicious treatment of their kind 
hostess, they asked for their bill of expense. To which 
she replied, "We never take pay of strangers." Mr. O. 
Taylor, with his accustomed pleasantry, casting an in- 
quiring look around, asked, " Of whom, then, in the 
name of wonder, do you take pay?" With a mutual 
blessing and friendly farewell, they pursued their jour- 
ney up river to Woodstock, from whence they went to 
view what they called the promised land. 

After taking a survey of this section of the country, 
having had a mid-summer view of their anticipated 
home Messrs. A. Putnam and Taylor were as much 
pleased with their land and prospects as were their pre- 
decessors ; and confirmed the favorable report of the first 
discoverers ; probably not aware of the short summers 
and long cold winters of this high latitude, nor fore- 
seeing the destiny which awaited those pioneers who, 
for years, were isolated in the heart of this then wild 
region. But it appears to have been the design of the 
Creator that this wilderness should, ere long, be con- 
verted to the use and benefit of man; that the giant 
growth of this beautiful forest was to yield to the axe 
of the \voodman, and this desert become a fruitful field. 

In the summer of 1805, Mr. Aaron Putnam and fam- 
ily, accompanied by Varnej' Pearce, Jr., Samuel Houlton, 
and Luther Tyron, left New Salem for the eastward, as 
it was then called. They came on board a vessel from 
Boston to Fredericton, from thence in boats to Wood- 
stock, 60 miles above Fredericton. Mr. Putnam and 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 



family remained at Woodstock while the young men 
proceeded to what is now called Houlton, and felled 
the first trees in the place. 

The circumstances connected with the settlement of this 
new colony were indeed novel. What could have induced 
the inhabitants of New Salem to purchase wild land in 
the interior of the district of Maine, at a sacrifice of the 
privileges and enjoyments of churches, schools and society, 
and embark in sucli an enterprise— to encounter the 
privations, perils and hardship of establishing a petty 
colony in this region of frost and snow, in a latitude of 
more than 46 degrees, appears to be a problem of mys- 
terious solution. 

Capt. Joseph Houlton, wife and eight children, viz: 
James, Samuel, Joseph and Henry, sons, and Sarah, 
Polly, Lydia and Louisa, daughters, left New Salem for 
Houlton Plantation, as it was then styled, in the summer 
of 1807, and arrived at Woodstock after a safe and 
speedy passage by water from Boston. 

Leaving the daughters at Woodstock, the others, as- 
sisted by kind friends, cut a bridle path to Houlton, 
the matron following on horseback, with her china tea- 
set carefully packed in a basket, hanging on her arm, 
supported by a pillow,— a very necessary appendage to 
their outfit— for, after the fatigue of so long a ride, 
wending their way on a zigzag line, they would require 
something from that cup which ''cheers but not intoxi- 
cates." They came to a thicket of cedar, where they 
left the horses, and became pedestrians the last two 
miles, to the long-sought promised land. 

Joseph Houlton and family, Samuel Cook, Esq., his 
son-in-law, and James Houlton, who was married the 
day previous to their leaving New Salem, constituted 
the first three families of that novel forest home. 

The first object, after their arrival, was to obtain fire 
and food to refresh the weary occupants. After adjusting 



O HISTORY OF HOUSTON. 

the limited supply of kitoheu utensils, with the order 
and neatness of New England housekeeping, they baked 
their bread without chimney or oven, in a bake-kettle, 
or " Dutch oven," as it was called, Avith a cover to it, 
hung on a pole supported by stumps or crotches, or 
placed in the corner with coals above and beneath. 
This was one specimen of their culinary operation by 
which many barrels of flour have been baked by the 
first settlers, until they could obtain materials for build- 
ing. They usually commenced witli a small cabin made 
of spruce logs, locked together at the four corners ; the 
inside hewed off to an even surface. Among the nohility 
they would even make the outside to compare with the 
inner. The roof consisted of rafters ribbed with small 
poles, and covered with bark or split cedar ; and, until 
a chimney could be built, a large aperture was left 
through the roof for the smoke to ascend to its accus- 
tomed altitude. The spacious fire-place, large enough 
to burn small mill-logs, was constructed of stone and 
clay mortar, up to the mantel-piece ; the chimney above 
was made of cedar sticks, laid up cob-house fashion, and 
plastered with a thick covering of mortar mixed with 
oat straw. 

But to secure these temporary luibitations from the 
insidious intrusion of Jack Fi-ost, they caulked the crev- 
ices between the logs with muss gathered from trees. 
This was the humble style of log-cabin architecture. 

The long winters passed off almost imperceptibly, 
while they were busily engaged preparing timber and 
getting materials for building fences, thrashing their 
grain and cutting firewood, which was no ordinary task, 
as it was found necessary to keep fires night and day 
during the severe cold weather. 

At the opening of the spring, the first business was 
to prepare for sugar-making. The troughs for catching 
the sap were made of the fir-tree, or birch-bark, which 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 9 

the French and Indians used. The tenth of April was the 
usual time for tapping the sugar-maple. The iron-ware 
for boiling the sap, from the size of three barrels down 
to two gallons, were brought into requisition for three 
or four weeks, with pipes and puncheons, that were 
placed in due order near the kettles beside the camp, to 
hold the sap. 

In the morning, on the ciust, the boys, with mocca- 
sins and snow-shoes, a hand-sled and a deep tub, each 
. with two pails, commenced gathering the sap, Avhich 
' was a laborious but not a hitter task, for the saccharine 
came next, when each, with his spoon and dipper, par- 
; took free!}' of the delicious candy, giving a deep ver- 
j milion hue to their glowing countenances. 
; The}" made, during the autumn, some improvement by 
! clearing the land for sowing about their cabins, which it 
% was found expedient to do as early as possil)le in the 
1 spring, to secure a mature growth from the destruction 
\ of untimely frosts, for the change is sudden from winter 
I to summer, consequently vegetation progresses with ra- 
; pidity and luxuriance. 

In those seasons, wheat and other grains yielded a 
bountiful harvest. But inconvenience and expense at- 
tending the grinding, rendered those crops of compara- 
tively little value, tliere being no mills nearer than 
Woodstock ; and at times they were obliged to go down 
the St. John, fifteen or twenty miles below Woodstock, 
traveling upon snow-shoes and hauling the grain on 
handsleds. This may appear appalling to the reader, 
but we state facts as they occurred, wliich we learn 
from uncpiestionable authority. But they were not long 
subject to this herculean task ; — the Yankee ingenuity 
and versatile talents of Capt. Houlton soon put a hand- 
mill in operation, which did their grinding, though prob- 
ably not in all respects quite equal to New York man- 
ufactuie. 



lO ■ HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

The condition of the first settlers must have been 
gloomy indeed, but for the friendship of their British 
neighbors ; yes, neighbors — although twelve miles dis- 
tant, they acted the human part of the good "Samaritan," 
in their deeds of kindness and benevolence. Their doors 
were opened to receive, and their hearts ever ready to 
welcome them to their hospitable homes, rendering such 
aid as their necessities required. Their trade and inter- 
course for years were confined to his M;ijesty's subjects, 
with whom they sustained the most friendly relation. 

The pioneers of this infant colony were men of indus- 
try and enterprise, who had enjoyed advantages for in- 
telligence beyond the general migratory class, who, when 
they remove, seldom stop longer than barely to gain a 
residence and then proceed to make other new improve- 
ments for those of mere staid habits, of perseverance 
and energy ; consequently possessing more of wealth, 
character and influence. 

In 1808, Capt. J. Houlton received an appointment to 
the office of Register of Deeds for the northern district 
of the County of Washington, by his Excellency's com- 
mand, James Sullivan, Esq., Governor and commander- 
in-chief of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

In 1809, Mr. Joshua Putnam and Phineas Stevens 
left New Salem for Houlton. Mr. Warren Putnam, who 
had been four years in trade at Woodstock, removed to 
Houlton with his family, consisting of his wife, mother, 
and four sons, viz : — Amos S., Jay, Lysander, Aaron 
and an adopted son, Joseph Goodenough. 

Mr. Putnam made a location of rare I'omantic beauty ; 
surrounded as it is on the east, south and west b}- the 
waters of the Meduxnakeag, the aboriginal name, but 
which is now familiarly called creek. The north branch 
empties in on the west, which contributes about one-third 
to its waters. The elevated bank, which rises ratlier 
abruptly, following the creek, upon which Mr. Putnam 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. II 

built a lof^ house, affords a fine view of th^ opposite sur- 
rounding localities. Hei'e the Indians frequently passed 
up and down, with their bark canoes deeply laden with 
their valuables, such as a variet}' of game, " squaws " 
and " papooses." Here, too, the wild ducks of vaiious 
species, played in the rippling current, practicing their 
newly fledged broods, now diving beneath the lim[)id 
element, then on their wings, whizzing through the 
trackless ether, to seek some new seclusion. 

It may appear to some that, at that time, the Prov- 
ince of Maine must have presented some imaginary, as 
well as real inducements, to the people of New Salem, 
for their decided predilection and destiny it seems was 
for Houlton, notwithstanding the tide of New England 
emigration was to the west. 

In May, 1810, Messrs. Varney Pearce, Esq., Deacon -^ , 
Samuel Kendall, Joshua Putnam, Ebenezer Warner, I 

of Springfield, Joshua G. Kendall, Jacob Haskell and 9 < 
Putnam Shaw left New Salem for the Province of Maine. ] { 
They embarked at Boston, and, after a tedious passage 
of several weeks, from the ceaseless rocking and pitching 
of the vessel — being green hands just from the country, 
thej' were all distressedly seasick ; poor souls, they must 
have had rather a squally, squirming time of it, for 
\Ahen they landed at the city of St. John, where they 
tarried a short time, to their chagrin, they found they 
had lost their center of gravity, so that on attempting 
at locomotion they reeled, staggered and halted, more 
like newly yoked pigs, than with the measured pace of 
ternx finna pedestrians. Mr. Amos Pearce and Simeon 
Holden left New Salem a fortnight later than those who 
came from Boston by water, and after a separation of 
about five weeks, having traveled some 400 miles by 
land, they arrived at Woodstock on the same day, which 
must have been a remarkable coincidence. 

Durincr the summer Mr. A. Putnam built a mill-dam 



12 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

across the creek near his house, as before described. At 
the western shore it was found difficult to obtain a per- 
manent foundation upon wliich to build, and at the time 
of freshet the Avater undermined and washed away 
the bank and carried off tlie dam. In July the house 
of Mr. Putnam was burned, with the clothing, beds, 
lurniture and provision. The fire caught from a piece 
of felled trees adjoining, of some 50 acres, which acci- 
dentally took fire, and so terrible were the flames that 
the family fled for refuge to the opposite shore of the 
creek. Those misfortunes must have been severel}^ felt 
by Mr. Putnam and family, while they were striving to 
establish themselves with a rjew and permanent home ; 
yet Mr. P. endured the losses and privations which he 
sustained by those potent, antagonistic elements, with 
tliat fortitude and forbearance which were characteristic 
of him. 

In tlie summer of 1811, Doct. Samuel Rice and Joshua 
Putnam, with tlieir families, accompanied by Samuel 
Kendall, Jr., and Sarah his sister, removed from New 
Salem to Houlton, thus adding two families more to 
tliis oasis of the forest, there being six, besides otlier 
settlers, young unmiirried men, viz : — Samuel Houlton, 
Joshua G. Kendall, Ebenezer Warner and Phineas Stev- 
ens. These families were located upon both sides of 
the road running nearly east and west, within a distance of 
less than two miles ; and all busily engaged, building, 
clearing away the forest, converting it into a beautiful 
field. The crops of all kinds of grains and vegetables 
were abundant. They planted but little corn, but what 
they raised was of the best quality. Potatoes and ruta- 
baga turnips were i-aised with facility and in abundance 
from the newly cleared lands, and they were found to 
be valuable for rearing stock, fattening beef and pork. 
These vegetables were of great service, particularly be- 
fore their improvements were sufficient for producing a 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. I3 

supply of hay. Then potatoes were not subject to rust 
and rot, as of late, neitlier was wheat liable to blight 
or weevil, as now. Their only fears were of untimely 
frosts. They then raised, from three pocks of seed, more 
than tliirty-three bushels, or at the rate of one hundred 
bushels from two and one-half bvi^hels of seed, though 
this was more than an average crop, yet it proves tlie 
genial adaptation of the newly cleared lands to the 
growth of wheat which has until of late, been the staff 
of Inead for the country. 

In the autumn, Joseph Houlton, Esq., built a mill- 
dam, and erected a saw and flour mill beneath the same 
roof, upon a small stream, which emj^ties into the creek 
near the village, as it now is, and in the meantime, 
evenings, they ground at the hand-mill, to furnish bread 
wliile building, Mr. A. Putnam rebuilt a dam and 
erected a mill frame. 

While amid their temporal cares and labors, it appears 
they were not unmindful or indifferent to their spiritual 
interests. The inhabitants, principally, having remained 
as sheep without a shepherd, feeling a sense of their 
destitution without the gos{)el ministry, were providen- 
tially visited by the Rev. Edmund Eastman, Missionary 
from Limerick, whose services were gratefully received 
and duly appreciated. 

October 13, 1811, a church was embodied in the 
Plantation of Houiton, by the name of the E'irst Con- 
gregational Church, in the Plantation of Houlton. 

At the news of the declaration of war between the 
United States and Great Britain in 1812, of which the 
inhabitants of Houlton were apprised on the fourth of 
July, being panic struck, in view of their exposed situa- 
tion, in the heart of the wilderness, surrounded by sav- 
ages — on the morning of the fift^i, Samuel Haskell-, a 
visitor from New Salem, (who informed the writer,) 
was dispatched as messenger to Woodstock to consult 



14 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

some of tlie principal iiihtibitants of that place concern- 
ing what could be done to secure these defenceless 
families from insult and plunder by tlie Mednctic tribe 
of Indians. But before Mr, Haskell reached Woodstock 
he met three Provincials on the way to Houlton upon a 
message of amity. 

Soon after, George Morehouse, Esq., authorized by the 
Provincial government, came and informed the people of 
Houlton that they might remain unmolested as in time 
of peace, that the arms of the Indians had been se- 
cured, and tlie inliabitants forbidden to sell them am- 
munition ; the government was supplying them with 
provision. Thus tlieir defence was guaranteed, provided, 
liowever, that the citizens of Houlton should neither 
bear arms, aid nor assist in any military operation or 
designs against His Majesty's subjects ; and in case of 
any hostile movements on the line or in the vicinity of 
Houlton, either fi-om the American government or b}- 
the Indians, the}' were forthwith to notify the citizens 
of New Brunswick thereof. 

The above, though not in the phraseology of the orig- 
inal document, yet amounts to the same, as nearly as 
the writer can learn fi'om verbal testimony. 

The first sparse settlers upon the banks of the St. 
John were fearful of the Indians in both goveriuuents ; 
and males from sixteen years of age and upwards, tljat 
Avere able to bear arms, were furnislied with them by 
the government. 

In the autumn of 1812, Samuel Wormwood left Al- 
fred, Me., for Houlton — came via Bangor, where he hired 
an Indian with his bark to pilot him through. They 
came up the Penobscot river and the Mattawamkeag, 
where the Indian said he would direct him so as to 
find the way alone ; that it was but a day's travel 
from there to Houlton. Accordingly the Indian turned 
back, leaving Mr. Wormwood with but one day's allow- 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. I5 

ance of provision, who started off with a ponderous 
pack of joiner's tools upon his Lack, proceeding as nearly 
as he could by his directions, witJiout guide or compass. 
On leaving the strealn he became bewildered, wandered 
off, and was seven da^'S in the forest, six of which he 
subsisted upon the bnrk and roots lie gathered in the 
Avoods. Tliis was in October, exposed to the inclemency 
of the weather, and the long, fiosty nights, without fire 
or shelter, day after day, wandering, forcing his lonely 
way, frantic ficm anxiety, grief and despair ; no one 
knows the number of miles he traveled to gain one in 
the right direction, until he became so much exhausted 
that he left Ins pack on a horseback, between a pond 
and the creek, about seven miles from Houlton, and 
crawled over tlie windfalls, followed tlie stream until he 
finally reached Houlton almost dead. Dr. Rice, wlio 
took liira to his own h<nise, found him so feeble that 
he said, had he not anived that evening, he must have 
perished before morning. But with watchful care and 
skill, allowing some simple liquids for a time, he at 
length was restored. His clothes were all in tattei's — 
his feet were swollen, lacerated and lame, from his des- 
perate efforts to gain his destination. His meager, ema- 
ciated features and skeleton appearance, must have more 
personified a ghost than a living man. After Mr. W. 
became lestored, Mr. Kendall accompanied him in search 
for his pack, wliich they found, and, to their utter as- 
tonishment, with some crumbs and dry crusts of biead 
in the bottom of it. The poor sufferer became so be- 
wildered, as to have lost all recollection of having a 
morsel of food left, while starving for the want of it. 
These facts the waiter received from Mrs. A. Putnam, 
the daughter of tlie subject of the narrative. 

In this uncultivated state of the country there were 
valuable tracts of timber land on both sides of the line, 
which were attiactino' the attention of the adventurer to 



l6 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

hazard his fortune in the lumber business, which lias too 
often proved unsuccessful to many poor fellows who 
have failed irretrievably in that enterprise. Altliough 
square pine timber was commanding a high price at St. 
John and Miramichi, varying from four to seven dollars 
per ton, and sometimes more feu- the Norway pine, 3'et 
the expense for labor, teams and su[)plies, was so great 
as to consume the amount obtained. Haj' delivered at 
the camps cost from ?|20 to -f GO per ton, oats and other 
necessaries were in tlie same proportion ; nevertheless 
this business was destined to become the stable of the 
country, and created a demand for more labor than this 
new country could then supply, and this, with tlie team 
power which was required to clear off the lieavy growth, 
to the development of the resources of this virgin soil, 
called for horses and oxen, wliich were furnished from 
the counties of Penobscot and Keiniebec, l)y people from 
Bangor and vicinity, viz: Messrs. Gordon, Holyoke, 
Dudley, Webster, Bailey, and others, wl:io came through 
with droves, following np the Penobscot and Matta- 
wamkeag rivers to within some twenty-five miles of 
Houlton, thence following a spotted line through. 

Those drovers made this trade in stock an object of 
speculation. They not only understood, with Yankee 
shrewdness how to buy and sell animals, but they soon 
evinced not a little sagacity in tlie manner of transport- 
ing goods, which they did by fastening packs upon the 
neck and horns of the oxen, as well as upon the backs 
of horses, wdiicli proved a successful device. Their 
goods sold at a greater profit than the stock, and doub- 
loons, '$16 pieces, were as connnon and current as $3 
bills are now. 

In 1813, AVm. Williams and his family removed from 
the Province of New Biunswick to Houlton, and settled 
in that vicinity, and are esteemed as respectable, enter- 
prising inhabitants. 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. I7 

In the winter Joshua G. Kendall, Samuel Houlton, 
Phineas Stevens and Jacob Haskell left Houlton for 
New Salem, with packs of sable fur, which they bought 
of the Indians. The snow deep and the weather ex- 
tremely cold, without a guide, save a pocket compass, 
they took their direction towards the Mattawamkeag, 
with their lieavy packs and eight or ten days' provision, 
ti'aveling upon snow-shoes, to Avhich they were unac- 
customed, climbing over the fallen trees, dodging the 
snow-loaded branches — their snow-shoes catching the un- 
derwood and snags tliat obstructed their passage, pitch- 
ing them headfirst — their moccasins losing foothold — 
cast-bonded, tangled up, and for the loss of locomotive 
power, thrust down their hands to keep their heads, 
perchance, some way horizontal with their heels, lest 
forsooth they should find themselves in rather a sad pre- 
dicament, with their unwieldy packs wagging them first 
one way and then the other, in the struggle to right 
ship and cargo. Thus traveling twenty-five miles to the 
Mattawamkeag, they were all jaded oat, where they 
.sought fuel and camping. Suffering from fatigue and 
cold, — fingers cramped and fireworks damp, — it was Avith 
much effort they obtained fire. Their refuge for lodg- 
ing was upon the snow, covered with layers of fir 
boughs and pillows of the same, with a fire of logs, six 
or eight feet long, and as many inches through, one 
upon another, with a forestick- supported by short cuts 
for andirons, protected by no shelter but the forest. 
After partaking of their homely fare, each with his 
blanket wrapped around him, in real Indian st3de, 
they lay themselves down in the fond embrace of 
Morpheus. 

Where they, in the shadowy moonlight slept, 
The sparkling sentinels their vigils kept, 
At early morn their daily task renewed, 
Their journey onward, onward they pursued. 



l8 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

After they arrived at Belfast, they shipped for Boston, 
whence they soon reached New Salem, 

Where sable fur a ready market won, 
For muffs and tippets then were all the ton, 
And those of large dimensions, too, were sought. 
And ladies paid full well for all the}' bought. 

The writer well recollects the facetious account they 
gave of their rude effort upon snow-shoes, and their 
traveling down the Mattawamkeag and Penobscot rivers 
on the ice, of crossing the track of some wonderful 
wild animal, where the creature leaped more than twenty 
feet at a bound. If, while we relate this fact, we can 
divest ourselves of the possil)ility of its reaching the 
magnitude of a " fish story," we must suppose that the 
wilds of the Penobscot were once the home of the 
panther. 

Tlie inhabitants of Houlton, retaining the Puritan 
character, duly estimating the advantages of early mental 
culture, procured a room for a school, in the house of 
Joseph Houlton, Esq., and employed Samuel Kendall, 
Jr., for their teacher. 

September 7, 1814, Dea. Samuel Kendall and family 
left New Salem for Houlton, accompanied by Edwin 
Townsend. It being in time of war, we came by land, 
witli wagons to Bangor. On our passage, in many [)laces. 
Me met families removing from Maine, in wagons, drawn 
by four and six oxen, plodding tlieir way ]!)atiently along, 
where their heav3'-loaded teams had beaten the roads, in 
many sections, to one common bed of mortar ; all bound 
for Ohio. Many of them disposed of their property at 
great sacrifice, leaving their now fertile lands and com- 
fortable homes, venturing their all upon the hazardous 
enterprise, without even previously making a location. 
So great was the rush then for Ohio, that the taverns 
were crowded with emigrants, who on inquiry learning 
that we were bound for the eastward, their attention 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. I9 

was at once arrested, and the interrogatories to which 
we were subjected, were marshaled with the scrutiny of 
an inquisition. They exclaimed to us, " You are wrong 
— what! going into the wilds of the interior of Maine? 
the very jumping off place of all creation !" After lis- 
tening to their unqualified salutations, we must confess 
we felt some twitching qualms of conscience that our 
father did not accept the offer of his nephew, James 
Prentiss of Boston, who said he would give him all the 
land himself and sons would improve in the State of 
Kentuck}', if he would remove there ; but in the Provi- 
dence of God, our destiny was in Aroostook. Howevei', 
not long after those families whom we met, reached their 
destination in Ohio, we were ciedibly informed that 
many were attacked with the fever, and sighed for the 
salubrious air of New England ; yea, would have been 
glad had the}' never left Maine. 

But to pursue our journey, we sold our horses and 
wagons at Bangor, where we arrived ten days after it 
was besieged by the British. The vessels then being- 
built were burnt on the stocks, the buildings here and 
there were perforated with grape-shot and shattered, the 
academy windows broken, and the place, though but a 
village, presented the habiliments of mourning. The 
children, as if unconscious of their devastated homes, 
were at play in the streets with the cannon balls. 

At Old Town, twelve miles above Bangor, we hired 
seven men, five of whom were Indians, with bark canoes, 
to convey the family and goods, accompanied by Messrs. 
Marshall and Butterfield, making nine loaded canoes, all 
bound for the River St. John. We had what might be 
called a social time. Camping out- nights Avas a novel 
thing to us, and an Indian we had never seen before ; 
and they were rather frolicsome, though we gave them 
no stimulant to excite them. They were joking and 
singing with the playfulness and innocence of children. 



20 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

Young Peeopokl, of about 18 years, gave a specimen of 
the Indian dance, shaking his shot-liorn and singing in 
a vai'ied, gutteral tone, el-ba-took, took-take-take-moha, 
repeating their (to us unmeaning) monosylhxbles, hopping' 
up and down, alternating on each foot, his body inclining 
forward, with projecting elbows, which gave him a most 
ludicrous appearance, until from this monotonous gam" 
boling, he became exhausted, then he would close his 
fandango with hue-cha ! on a high key-note. 

Old Mattannis was a brawny, clear-blooded Aboriginal 
who, though not so much of a 'comedian, yet sustained 
his part to admiration, while the other Indians appeared 
equally to enjoy the comic repast. Peeopokl was distin- 
guished for vivacity, intrepidity, symmetry of form and 
manly beauty. He came in the same bark with the 
writer, and we believe the history of the same Peeopokl 
has recently been published, whose life, if carried out as 
commenced, must prove a fit subject for a romance. On 
the first night after leaving- Old Town, we stopped at 
tlie house of Samuel Wheeler, who received us kindly. 
Our lodging consisted of a field bed, which covered the 
rtoor, and somewhat crowded at that. In the morning 
we pushed our heavy laden barks up the smooth water, 
of tlie Penobscot, taking our lunch at 12 o'clock, before 
a fire wliich the Indians made for boiling the tea ; we 
were soon under way with our pilot ahead, with sturdy 
hands our paddles measured with equal pace, until the 
sun cast the long shadow of the superb elm from the 
island to the shore, which warned us to prepare for the 
night ; when we arrived at Mr." A. Haynes', whose se- 
questered cabin stood a few rods from the river, as we 
ascended its western bank, where we were cordially re- 
ceived. After an early breakfast we left our hospitable 
friends, who were the uppermost settlers on the river, 
and worked our way a day's journey onward, where on 
the eastern bank we landed our frail craft, and made our 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 21 

1)ed of boughs before a crackling fire, by which we, witli 
keen appetite, partook of our simple fare, and lay down, 
particularly bidding adieu to surrounding objects, Soninus 
presiding over our motley group until the day star rose, 
when with eager haste we prepared our frugal meal, of 
,which we all ate with thankful hearts, and loading our 
canoes, we resumed our onward course. After a fatiguing 
day, forcing our way against a strong current, we arrived 
at what was called Gordon's Falls, on the Mattawani- 
keag, where we stopped for the night, under an old roof, 
the rafters of which stood on the ground ; expecting to 
find more ample accommodations than where we had nr» 
shelter, save the forest and the broad blue canopy of 
heaven: but to our utter disappointment, we were an- 
noyed all night with myriads of insects, which, for the 
time being, were as bad, or worse than the ten plagues 
of Egypt. The next morning, after a sleepless, and, I 
might say restless night, we poked our way along, follow- 
ing: the meanderings of the Mattawamkeag, every now 
and then losing our whereabouts, from the perpetual 
windino's of the dead waters, but Avere delighted with 
the beauty of the surrounding scener\', in the stillness 
of a clear October moonlight; the elm here and there, 
with its bending top, though recently shorn of its foli- 
age, still ap[)eared as if planted by the hand of art ; and 
the banks elevated to secure the table-lands from freshet 
tide, Avith slnnibbery enough to give it the appearance 
of a tastefully cultivated garden ; where the autumnal 
leaf in its golden hue, carpeted the spongy surface, and 
fringed the alluvial shore. From the Mattawamkeag we 
came to the Baskahegan, where at the falls we caught a 
supply of the largest, fattest trout we ever saw. Whence 
we' followed the stream to the portage at the Schoodic 
Lake, where we tarried for the night. It being late, 
Old Mattannis went astray, and it was quite dark before 
lie found the company. Being asked _^what he would 



22 HISTORY OF HOULTON, 

have clone had he not found the camp, he said, " Oh, 
spoze me starve three days, then, eatum sable," as if by 
that time nothing would come amiss. In the morning, 
having carried our canoes and bao^gage to the western 
shore, we launched our flotilla in the waters of the lim- 
pid lake, which then, to us inlanders, appeared rather 
oceanic. In the afternoon we encountered a squall that 
beat against our frail bark, occasionally dashing over the 
gunwale upon us ; at times we feared the boats would 
fill and sink with their valuable freight, but we ventured 
to follow our pilot, one after another in true Indian 
file. It is astonishing to see with what dexterity the 
Indians control their canoes, propelling them so steadily 
and safely against the surging waves, and the whirling, 
foaming current. From the lake we passed down Eel 
river to the carrying place, as it is called, to the St. 
John, where we were obliged to lug all our baggage 
four or five miles, dodging along the windings of a 
bridle path. After six weeks journeying through the 
country, up the rivers and over lakes, we arrived at 
Houlton, happy to see our old friends and neighbors, 
who met us with affectionate salutations. Truly thank- 
ful were we to Him who guided our footsteps and led 
us gently through this laborious, perilous journey, and 
safely landed us at our long-sought, anticipated home. 
In autumn, James U. Taylor and family removed 
from the Province of New Brunswick to Houlton. In 
the winter following Messrs. Carr and Carle, from Ken- 
nebec, came to Houlton and built a flour-mill at the 
dam of A. Putnam. Mr. Carr was a millwright and 
vocalist, who taught school evenings, and was patron- 
ized by the youth and adults. A primary school for 
the common branches was taught by Samuel Kendidl, 
Jr., in an apartment of a large house built by Dr. S. 
Rice. Messrs. Reed and Tilton of Kennebec, came to 
Houlton where, for six months, they manufactured scythe 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 23 

snaths, fitting the irons to the wood, for whieh they 
found a read}^ market at Houlton, and in the Province, 
at i 1.50 per stick. 

In the summer of 1815 Joshua Putnam, 2d, a propri- 
etor of Houlton, and Edmund Cone, came from New 
Salem to reside at Houlton. At this time, with the 
exception of thiee families, the inhabitants of Houlton 
consisted principally of Houltons and Putnams ; if not 
all of those names, they were connected by marriage. 
Dea. S. Kendall and Dr. S. Rice married sisters, the 
daughters of Joshua Putnam, Sr., who, with two broth- 
ers, Amos and Ziel, were among the primitive inhabitants 
of New Salem, and whose native place was Danvers, 
Mass. 

Here, for want of dates we depart from chronological 
order. Samuel Cook, Esq., married Sally Houlton ; Eb- 
onezer Warner married Polly Houlton ; Isaac Smith of 
the Province of New Brunswick, married Lydia Houlton ; 
Jesse Thompson of New Salem, married Louisa, daugh- 
ter of Joseph and Sarah Houlton ; James" Houlton mar- 
ried Sally Haskell of New Salem ; Samuel Houlton 
married Sarah Kendall; Joseph Houlton, Jr., married 
Elmira Ray; Amos Putnam mairicd Priscilla Worm- 
wood ; Stillman J. Putnam married Betsey Broad ; Ly- 
sander Putnam married widow Ruth Fall; Aaron Putnam, 
Jr., married Maria Burleigh. From these and other 
kindred marriages, descended a numerous offspring, to 
the second and third generation, who at this day con- 
stitute a considerable portion of the inhabitants of 
Houlton, though some have, as must be expected, re- 
moved to other States and territories, scattered from 
Minnesota to Australia, which is but a miniature of the 
common lot of Adam's posterity ; marrying and inter- 
mingling in social alliance, as if to fulfill the destined 
mission of disseminating light and knowledge universal, 
which amicable intercourse is a prominent feature of the 
long-prophesied millennium. 



24 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

Ill 1816 the British and American Commissioners, 
Beauchet, Campbell, Johnson and Turner, with some 
sixty men, came to survey the boundary line between 
Maine and the Province of New Brunswick, according^ 
to the treaty of 1783, commencing at the monument at 
the source of the St. Croix, running the line due north 
to the highlands which separate th(; waters that flow 
into the Atlantic, from those that empty into the St. 
Lawrence. Having run the line some fifty miles from 
the monument to Mars Hill, cutting an avenue sixteen 
feet in width, twenty miles of the distance, the British 
commissioners, Messrs. Beauchet and Campbell, con- 
tended for Mars Hill as the said highlands, but Messrs. 
Johnson & Turner non-concurred with them. They 
erected a temporary observatory on Parks Hill, on the 
east line of Honlton, where, with their theodolites and 
instruments, they measured distances and altitudes. 
The men were equipped with axes, knives, canteens and 
knapsacks well stored. Houlton being their place of 
rendezvous, having an excellent violinist and the choicest 
liquors, which at that time seemed indispensable to festive 
entertainments, they occasionally met the citizens of 
Houlton in friendly, social pastime, whose kind atten- 
tions were reciprocated with cordial salutations b}^ our 
limited circle. 

A young Indian invited a 3-outh of Houlton to accom- 
pany him on a hunting expedition. The young man, 
pleased with this son of the forest, accepted the invita- 
tion, delighted as he was with the prospect of suc-h a 
novel excursion ; with spirits buoyant with the anticipa- 
tion of inexperienced youth, on a beautiful September 
morning started off, with his Indian friend, for the hunt, 
with the entire equipage for the outfit, with gun, hatchets, 
knives, blankets, and provision. After a hard day's 
tramp, with packs nearl}^ as weighty as themselves, they 
came to a stream which, for a distance was still water, 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 25 

where tliey found it expedient to procure some water 
craft to proceed. Finding it difficult to corstrnct a raft 
which tliej could pi-opel up-stream, and far from the 
growth of the birch, the bark of which canoes were 
made, the next morning, after a night's lodging upon 
the bank, listening to the music of tlie owls and mos- 
quitos, with which, however, the Indian, too familiar, 
lost no sleep, they found a large spruce which tliey 
felled, and with Indian application and skill, peeled off 
the bark some fifteen feet in length, which, with cedar 
si)]its and spruce roots for thread, they constructed a 
thing which carried them over the smooth and rough 
waters to the hunting ground. Before tliey reached this 
place their miniature ark became leaky, from the shoal 
places over which they hauled it, and their only remedy 
was to bail it out with a dipper, which was no desirable 
pastime, while hunted by the flies and mosquitos. In 
fact, this inexperienced youth, whose fair complexion and 
tender skin was a rare bait for those bloodthirsty legions 
to feast upon, was i)robal)ly not aware that while on 
this anticipated tour of pleasure, he would be game for 
such a pestilential swarm of in significants which neither 
give or ask for quarter. 

While paddling their rough, shapeless bark over the 
still water which, mirror-like reflected the varied colors 
of the trestled foliage, pendent from the bending tops, 
which marked the irregular windings of the stream, tliey 
proceeded slowly and stealthily, lest they should frighten 
the game, both on the land and water ;^ for the Indian 
was so expert with the gun that he would shoot game 
on the land, ducks on the wing or the water, while 
upon his seat in that ticklish spruce. 

The manner of taking the beaver is with the utmost 
cunning and caution. They set and fasten the traps 
under water, near their only ingress and egress to their 
houses. While setting them they are careful not to speak 



26 yiSTORY OF HGULTON. 

a word, except to whisper, lest they be heard, and be 
as expeditious as possible, lest they be seen ; and where 
they liaVe trodden or handled anj-thing tliey wash or 
wet with water, to prevent their scenting them, for if 
they discover any marks of the approach of man to 
their houses, they forsake them at once. Beavers sepa- 
rate in families by pairs, leaving the homestead for new 
and favorable locations, for if they i-emain together until 
the}" become numerous and crowded families, they, like 
certain bipeds, grow churlish and quarrelsome, and not 
unfrequently leave marks of violence which they inflict 
upon each other. Upon separating for new honies they 
seek places where, by building a dam, they can flow a 
large surface for their sphere of operations and security; 
building their houses of sticks, (the bark of which is 
their food,) about a foot long, and from one to five 
inches through, wliich they lay in a mixture of mud 
and grass ; the Indians say their masonry is done with 
theit wide, flat tails. When their houses are finished, 
being of various sizes, they resemble the form of a 
haycock. The inside is divided into upper and lower 
apartments, in order to suit the convenience of those 
amphibious animals at high or low water, always making 
their entrance under water, for safety from the approach 
of enemies above. 

Their flesh is excellent, when well prepared, but they 
are seldom taken in a manner to bleed them properly ; 
they are so exceedingly shy, they are rarely caught ex- 
cepting in steel ti-aps, which are so fastened as to drown 
them. When in the winter the Indians find their dams, 
they cut holes and drain off tlie water. Finding their 
dams broken the}' venture out nights by families, on the 
ice, to seek an asylum from the marauders. The Indians, 
anticipating their removal, lie in ambush for them, but 
when tlius assaulted they often prove desperate antago- 
nists, for if some are shot dead, others finding thev can 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 27 

make no escape, will turn uj)on their pnrsners, and as 
there are generally a family or more together, they fight 
a bloody battle. The Indians get badly wounded when 
they slip and fall on the ice, as they sometimes do in 
their encounter, for their broad, incisive teeth cut wher- 
ever they take hold. Those that were taken in this 
manner and well bled, the Indians sometimes brought to 
Houlton, where they found a ready market. The tail 
of a large, fat beaver is esteemed a luxury for an epi- 
cure. 

Sometimes they found families consisting of large and 
small beavers ; after catching the old ones the}' would 
break their houses and take tlie little ones, bring them 
to Houlton and give them to boys to domesticate and 
sport with ; but the poor captives made such ado and 
pined so for their dams, that the owners were glad to 
release and trust them to their native element. 

But to return to our juvenile hunters who, for several 
days, traveled the forest in pursuit of various kinds of 
game, trapping the beaver, Avhicli was their principal 
object, then left for home, pretty well bled by the flies, 
and not a little fatigued from the jaunt, but proud of 
the trophies of their chase. 

The gnats, or, as the Indians call them, all-feel-em no- 
see-ems, black flies and n:!Osquitos, were a sore annoy- 
ance to the first settlers, during the summer months. 
They were obliged to make smokes in their dooi'-yards, 
two or three hours before night to drive them from their 
houses and secure repose and sleep. The woodman, 
while felling the trees, prepared cedar-baik smoke, in 
the form of a cigar, about two feet long, fastened t<i 
their hats, lighted at one end, which served as a porta- 
ble defense against them. At dry times, when dangerous 
to carry fire, they used fresh butter where most exposed 
to their bites; the Indians applied bear's oil, which, 
though offensive, was allowed the best protection. The 



28 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

large horse-flies were so troublesome that it was not safe 
to leave horses fastened so that tliey could not defend 
themselves, except in the shade or stable. In pastures 
where there was no shelter, people put up temporary 
coverings to shield them from the heat of the sun, but 
left open to the circulation of the air on every side. 

During the heat of summer, the horses, cattle and 
sheep would feed in the cool of the morning, then flee 
to those shades where they would remain till four or 
five o'clock P. M. It was found expedient to make 
smoke for the poor dumb beasts, to which they would 
flee, as if by instinct, where they had no otlier protection 
from those troublesome insects. 

It is said there is nothing made in vain, but to finite 
man many things appear quite irreconcilable, — yes, to 
poor microscopic man, of few and evil days, of compli- 
cate mechanism, a miracle to himself, doomed to death, 
yet indestructible, naturally depraved, meeting in liis 
fellow his co-equal foe; prone to doubt his divine origin, 
and, paradoxical to say, at war with his own constitu- 
ent elements. 

In 1816 the series of cold seasons commenced, when, 
it was said, spots were discovered on the sun's disk. 
Those fi'osty sununers reduced the inhabitants to severe 
privations. At Houlton it even snowed in June. The 
birds sought shelter wherever they could, but many died 
of the cold. Wlieat and other crops, except rye, were 
cut off by untimely frosts — potatoes were but half grown, 
— wheat, our principal staff for bread, was so badly 
smitten as to produce an unsavory odor to the olfactory 
nerves, instead of ripening to the accustomed golden 
harvest, and proving more than a remuneration for the 
labor of falling and clearing of the forest. These were 
trying times, — yea, enough to produce despondence upon 
the spirits of the most resolute and stout-hearted ; but 
kind Providence, ever mindful of Plis dependent creatures, 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 29 

did not leave us to perisli wilh hunger. The creek, 
which now wears the same channel and winds it way, 
dividing the village, then abounded with salmon, that 
were easily eanght, (of which we shall say more here- 
after,) and partridges were numerous and tame as do- 
mestic fowls, and very good. The wild ducks, though 
shy, were frequent captives of the hunter; and the sugar 
maple, with which the forest abounds, contributed not a 
little to our comfort and support, and yielded an ample 
supply of sap, from which was made syrup, candy and 
sugar of a pure, refined quality, being wJiolesome, nutri- 
tive and delicious. Cows that had no pasture, save the 
woods, which furnished a suppl}' of Solomon's seal and 
udder tongue during the summer months, gave a pail of 
milk at night and morning, from which were made one 
pound of butter per day, and of good quality. 

Wiien rye flour sold at Woodstock for $17 per barrel, 
the iidiabitants were obliged to adopt a simple regimen, 
changing new milk to curd, mixing it with cream and 
sugar, which was both nutritious and palatable, a good 
substitute for custard. During the haixl times, lumber- 
ing, however delusive, absorbed the capital and con- 
trolled the enterprise of the people of the country. 
Eighteen inch shingles were three dollars per thou- 
sand, boards ten and twelve dollars per thousand, and 
hewed ton tindjer found competition at a high 
price. From the signal failure of crops, the farmers, as 
an alternative, changed their occupation for a time, and 
became lumbermen, consequently their farms were ^\eg- 
lected. 

Boards and shingles were run in rafts to Woodstock 
and Fredericton, which were their principal places of 
market. Ten miles below Houlton there are falls where 
they unrafted, carrying the lumber some fifty rods or 
more over a rough path, dodging the trees, bouncing 
against the roots and rocks. This Hercidean labor was 



30 HISTORY OF HOULTON, 

necessaril}^ performed in the spring and autuuiu during: 
the time of a freshet. 

An incident connected with this hazardous enterprise, 
we think is here desei-ving a place. In November, a 
young man and a boy of some 12 3^ears started for 
Woodstock on a raft of shingles. Being unaccustomed 
to rafting and niniung shingles, when they arrived at 
tlie falls, they barely escaped going over, which, under 
such circumstances, must have proved inevitable destruc- 
tion, but with their utmost effort they landed the laft. 
The next morning, having lugged their shingles over 
the portage and rafted again, they pushed off for Wood- 
stock ; they had gone but a short distance before they 
ran upon a sand-bar. which tore the raft all to pieces, 
the shingles floating at random — driven by wind and 
current. Catching the ax, poles and packs, they put 
for the shore. Having made a raft of cedar, they floated 
down to Woodstock, where they procured provision, a 
baik canoe and a bottle of Jamaica, without which, in 
those days, it would have been thought presumption, 
exposed to the cold storms of November, to endure the 
fatigue and hardship of raftmen. The next • morning 
those green hands, with their poles and paddles, worked 
their passage up some five miles, the water freezing to 
the poles, and the ballast light, so that a misstep would 
upset the ticklish bark ; the current in man}' places deep 
and strong, dashing alternately from shore to shore, 
in their haste to reach the falls, the boy at tlie bow, 
whose pole slipped from the ledgy bottom, falling on 
the gunwale it capsized instantly, precipitating them both 
head foremost into the cold stream of some eight or ten 
feet of water ; the poor boy swam for life to the nearest 
shore, but the ledges were so bluff, it was impossible, 
for some distance, to get foot-hold. The other, with the 
locomotive power of his legs and one hand, while with 
the other he righted the canoe, securing the parapherna- 



HISTORY OF HOULTQN, 3I 

lia <^f poles, paddles, and baggage, with great effort 
swam to the shore some thirty rods below. Resuming 
their pl<aces, with tlw; gieatest exertion to keep from 
freezing, they pushed their tieaclierons bark three or 
four miles, wdien they upset precisely as before, liaving 
to clear for the shore where best they could. Well for 
them that they were expert swimmers, otherwise they 
must have drowned. Being soaking wet and nine miles 
from inliabitants, fireworks, baggage, blankets all satu- 
rated, and the little fellow,, in his desperate effort to 
reach the sliore, lost off one shoe, it being more than 
half a mile to their place of camping, provision e?itire]y 
wet, and, to cap the climax, the bottle sunken, the}'' 
were in a quandary about what to do, but finally they 
resolved to make another effort to gain the falls; if they 
could find no fire there to walk the shore till morning 
to keep from freezing to death, rather than abandon the 
raft and return to Woodstock without accomplishing 
their object. Proceeding with caution, they at last 
reached the falls, with clothes stiff with frost, cold hands 
and limbs and heavy hearts, but scon, to their infinite, 
joy, they discovered a blazing fire, a man having arrived 
there that day and made provision for the night. Their 
blankets dripping wet, and no covering but the canopy 
of Heaven there was consequently no sleep for them. 
Placing themselves before a good fire, turning round 
and round, smoking and steaming like old-fashioned 
basted turkeys, until morning, when doubtless they^ 
with drooping heads, through the " keen demands of 
appetite," partook of their water-soaked fare, after which 
they proceeded to the task of collecting their fragment- 
ary raft. Having succeeded and marketed the shingles 
at Woodstock, they slur.g their packs, which were blank- 
ets tied at the extreme corners, containing various arti- 
cles, to the amount of some thirt}^ or forty pounds, and 
trudofed home, where thev told the sad storv, which. 



32 HISTORY OF HOULTOI^. 

though pitiful, yet extorted laug-hter from the facetioiT!> 
guests, wlio, listeuing to the rehearsals of the duckings 
they had, their desperate swimming efforts in the freez- 
ing element, the loss of shoe and hottle, though not like 
honest Gilpin, who bi'oke both of his with loss of hat 
and wig, exclainied, '' Such fellows wei'e not rearetl in 
the woods to be frightened at an owl or to quail before 
a storm." 

In the autumn Mr. Amos Putnam took a horse on a 
raft of boards, to haul them by the falls. After they 
arrived, having hauled the lumber, at night the horse 
was turned to water, but suddenly disappeared. Search 
was made, but without success. In the morning, they 
renewed the search, but without success as before. The 
animal being young and valuable, Mr. Putnam employed 
several men, who were a week in pursuit of him, but 
finall}' gave up the creature for lost. 

Ou the 12th of February following, there were men 
with teams passing down the creek, upon the ice, who 
discovered the track of a horse, which they followed a 
short distance and found the poor brute alive in the 
woods, but reduced to a mere skeleton. This creature 
had been from fall till Feb., suffering from the storms 
of i-ain and snow, limited at last to a narrow beat of a 
few rods, that he kept open by browsing, without water, 
shelter or food, except what he gathered in the forest. 
The poor animal was taken home on a sled, restored 
and became a valuable servant for years after. The 
above incident, we believe, surpasses all history of a 
horse's endurance, — exposed to the severities of a winter 
of hard frosts and deep snow in this high latitude. 
Cattle have rambled off many miles from tiieir summer 
haunts and been found alive, by lumbermen, late in 
winter, but a horse never befoie, to my knowledge. 

Lumbering, building mills, houses, clearing a little 
here and there, planting, sowing, fishing, mowing, were 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 33 

calling- for renewed effort. J. Houlton, Esq., built a 
flour mill on a stream near the north line of Houlton, 
and Mr. A. Putnam got his mill in operation, which 
accommodated the inhabitants of Houlton and the adja- 
cent settlements. About this time, Mr. Samuel Morrison, 
with a numerous famil}' of sons and daughters, removed 
from Limerick, to New Limerick, which joins Houlton 
on the west, from which, at the time of burning their 
felled trees, the smoke rose promiscuously, designating 
the places of their different locations, which, though 
distant, bore a social aspect, changing their solitar}' 
waste to cultivated farms. It were unnatuial, ungrate- 
ful to dissociate those pioneers of this vast desert from 
a fraternal co-partnership in this connnon, indispensable, 
yea, no!)le work of converting the wilderness to fruitful 
fields, and of carrying civilization and competency to 
the gloomy abodes of poverty and ignorance, and asso- 
ciating the progress of morality, science and religion 
with the school-house, the seminary, and the temple for 
the worship of God. With the prosperity of these, is 
identified the perfectibility of our race, fulfilling our 
mission on earth, with a well-grounded hope of a bliss- 
ful immortality beyond the grave. 

There are two lakes, called the Limerick lakes, of 
about three miles in length, averaging half a mile in 
width. Ui)on the tlioroughfai'e between the lakes there 
is a saw-mill, the property of Mr. Moses Drew, some 
nine miles from the village of Houlton, and a valuable 
quarry of lime 'tone, where are two kilns, from which 
Houlton and the adjacent country are stipplied with 
lime. The eastern lake is separated from the west 
branch of the Meduxnakeag by a swell of land, running 
nearly east and west, upon which those families settled, 
presenting a romantic view of the lake on the south, 
and the more remote settlement at the north. Those 
lakes afforded many pleasure excursions, sometimes on 



34 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

rafts, ill log canoes or skiffs, frequently combining pas- 
time with fishing, which was found expedient in those 
days of all work. 

There were valuable fish in those lakes, but the salmon 
of the creek were valued as tlie wealth of the waters. 
Tiie mill-dams were beginning to obstruct their passage 
up, but they Avere so persevering to press their way 
over the falls and dams, that where there was no sluice 
or fisii-ways made for them, they would run against the 
water-wheels while tlie mills were in operation, which 
would kill them instantly. Wiiile striving to ascend the 
falls, tliey are sometimes forced back against the rocks 
b}' the impetuosity of the dashing elements, as to wound 
them severely ; for they have often been caught with the 
scars of bruises whicli they doubtless received from the 
rocks and ledges. When hunted, they evince a great 
sagacity on being wounded, trying every nook and hole 
to secrete themselves from their pursuers, but when 
deadly wounded by the spear, if they escape, the eels 
find them, as if by instinct, commencing at the wound, 
eating their way until they devour all but skin and bones. 
When sought by the spearmen, with their canoe and 
jack-light of bark or pitch-wood, with nets above and 
below those salmon holes, finding themselves in circum- 
scribed limits, and tired from the chase, tliey will fall 
captives almost without resistance to their unrelenting 
foes. To escape the eye of the fish-hawk and eagle, 
they lie in deep water among the rocks, except at night 
or at high water, when they venture up the shoals and 
rapids. How marked is the hand of that universal Prov- 
idence, thus to send the scaly treasures of the deep to 
force their way up the rivei-s and streams to supply the 
necessities of the remote and destitute creatures of His 
care ; thougli hunted by their pursuers with nets and 
spears, on their passage up, yet the progress of those 
that escape is onward and upward ; overcoming all ob- 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 35 

stacles, until faithful to their progeny, they leave their 
spawn, after which they become poor and comparatively 
worthless, and return with the floating current to their 
oceanic retreat, beyond the reach of voracious man, there 
to be nourished and restored, but again, at the opening 
of the spring, when the rivers burst their ice-bound fet- 
ters, to perform tlieir annual accustomed toiir. 

In 1817 Houlton was visited by speculators from Ban- 
gor, who came with goods, among wliom were Wood & 
Bradbur}^ and sold boots, shoes, tea, tobacco, cotton 
cloth and some other articles to the inhabitants of 
Houlton, making ample profits, though the difficulty and 
expense attending transportation must have been con- 
siderable, as packs, cariied on their backs, was the man- 
ner of conveyance. 

Our infant colony, consisting of all ages, with the 
foreign settlers, began to extend the settlement, and 
among our social gatherings might be seen the graj' locks 
that shaded the temples of more than four-score years, 
together with the middle-aged, and the peach down of 
infancy. The eldest among us was Mrs. Lydia Putnam, 
a distinguished female, one of the pioneers of two set- 
tlements, claiming a residence with the primitive inhab- 
itants of New Salem. 

An incident connected with her early life, we think 
is deserving of a place here. At a time, in absence of 
her husband, Bruin came in quest of game ; finding 
naught but a swine in a pen a few steps from the door, 
made an assault upon the poor prisoner, which raised a 
bitter outcry at the salutation of his unwelcome guest. 
The young matron, hearing the alarm, from the impulse 
of the moment, seized her husband's gun, which not 
being charged, resorted to the next efficient weapon for 
aggressive warfare, the pitchfork, with which she made 
a threatening onset, until old Bruin, rising upon his hind 
feet, looked between his paws, witli a horiid grin, as if 



36 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

to stand the challenge of his armed assailant, but be- 
twixt the rquealing of the one, and the persistent ad- 
vances and threats of the other, absconded, leaving liis 
captive and his courageous adversary to claim the honor 
of triumph and be entertained with his own music. An 
alarm being given, the laborers left the field in pursuit? 
and after a -chase of a mile or more in the woods, con- 
quered him. But that fearless woman evinced the spirit 
of a heroine and a presence of mind peculiar to herself, 
which saved the poor captive from falling a prey to the 
voracity of his huge antagonist. Mis. Lydia was the 
widow of Amos Putnam, Sr., of New Salem, and left 
there with her son Aaron, in 1805, and in 1809 removed 
from Woodstock to Houlton, tis before mentioned. Va- 
rying from the chronology of events, we will here notice 
her decease, which occurred at the residence of her son- 
in-law, Joseph Houlton, Esq., April 8, 1820, after a 
short illness, peculiar to the decrepitude of four score and 
seven years. Mrs. Putnam was a member of the Con- 
gregational church in New Salem, from which it appears 
she never withdrew her connection. Possessing a char- 
acter of industry, energy and perseverance, united with 
experience, qualified her for a sphere of usefulness pe- 
culiarly adapted to her situation, as doctress in Houlton 
and in the Province, there being no physician then 
above Fredericton, excepting Doctor Rice. She never 
refused when called upon to go the distance of five or 
ten miles, at whatever season of the year. Hers was 
emphaticall}^ a life of activity and usefulness, down to 
a good old age, and her death was lamented by numer- 
ous relatives and an extensive circle of friends and ac- 
(][uaintances. 

From the efficient aid of the Rev. Mr. Harding, we 
were favored with the missionary labor of the Rev. Seth 
E. Winslow, of Barre, Mass., and as a testimony of the 
deep interest which those few families then evinced upon 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 37 

the subject of their spiritual welfare, we will refer the 
reader to the following records : 

At a meeting of the church, Sept. 20, 1818, Samuel 
Cook, having been propounded as candidate for a mem- 
ber of the First Congregational Church in Houlton 
Plantation, was received into the church in due form. 

Baptized by Rev. Seth E. Winslow, Sept. 27, 1818: — 
Elizabeth Ann and Samuel Dwight, children of Samuel 
and Betsy Rice ; Elizabeth Hanle}', an adopted daughter 
of Samuel and Betsy Rice ; Aaron Randolph, son of 
Aaron and Isa Putnam ; Franklin and Hairiet, children 
of Joshua and Betsey Putnam ; Harrison and Lyman, 
children of James and Sally Houlton ; James and Lydia, 
children of Samuel and Sally Cook ; iVLuy, Joseph and 
Fanny, childen of Ebenezer and Polly Warner ; Priscilla 
Emerson, daughter of Samuel and Sally Wormwood; 
Joseph Broadstreet, Samuel. Nathan, Thomas, Elizabeth 
and Jonathan, children of Samuel Parks and his wife, 
members of a Baptist Church. 

At a meeting of the inhabitants of the Plantation of 
Houlton, Oct. 10, 1818, the First Congregational Church 
in said Houlton, with others present, 

Voted, That they give the Rev. Seth E. Winslow an 
invitation to settle with them and labor among them in 
the gospel ministry. 

Voted, That the sum of four hundred dollars be raised 
and paid to said Winslow annually, as his stated salary. 

Nov. 1, 1818, Eleazer Packard, William Williams and 
Sarah Kendall were received in the usual form, as mem- 
bers of the First Congregational Church in Houlton 
Plantation. Baptized by the Rev. Seth E. Winslow : — 
Thomas Painter and Rhoda Caroline, children of Eleazer 
and Ruth Packard ; Ruth, Maria and Nathan Holden, 
children of Eleazer ar>d Lucinda Packard. 

In presence of the congregation. Mr. Amos Putnam 
Avas married to Miss Priscilla F. Wormwood. 



38 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

It aippears that the Rev. Mr. Winslow Avas faithful in 
the discharge of the duties of his mission, and that his 
efforts were duly appreciated by the church and inhab- 
itants of Houlton, as the reader may learn from the 
subjoined letter of Deacon Samuel Kendall: 

"' Houi^TON Plantation, Nov. 25, 1818. 

Hev. Alpheus Harding — Dear Sir : — I am requested by 
the church of Christ and other inhabitants of the Plan- 
tation of Houlton, so called, to present through yon, as 
being the proper organ of communication to the Massa- 
chusetts Evangelical Missionary Society, you being one 
of the executive committee of said society, and also the 
one by whom Mr. Winslow received his commission^ 
their highest sense of the obligations the}^ are under to 
said society, for their liberal donation, and happy choice 
in the missionary employed ; and as a token of their 
grateful acknowledgment for the favor received by the 
friendl}' aid of said society, they have collected and 
committed to the charge of Mr. Winslow -fBO, to be 
transmitted to said society, to be disposed of by them 
at their discretion, for the use of the gospel ministry. 

They feel their inability to express their gratitude for 
the services of the missionary who came to them by the 
means of your benefaction, whose indefatigable labors of 
love among them for nearly three months past, by 
preaching the gospel, administering the ordinances of 
baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the truly kind, ten- 
der and affectionate manner of his instructing their 
children and youth, have excited in their breasts the 
warmest emotions of gratitude to him for the unwearied 
pains he hath taken with them. They deem it a priva- 
tion to think of a separation, even until next summer. 
Should your society still think us objects of your further 
charity, (as we verily feel ourselves to be,) and could 
consistently render us that aid which would enable us, 



HISTORY OF HOULTON, 39 

■With our own efforts, to sustain a pastor, we would in- 
dulge the hope that Mr. Winslow will be prevailed with 
to settle in the ministry in this place. He has given 
universal satisfaction, both in his private visits and pub- 
lic performances." 

The writer, having no further records of ecclesiastical 
history until 1833, aside from the correspondence of Mr. 
Winslow and Rev. Mr. Harding with Deacon S. Kendall, 
in behalf of the church and inhabitants of the place, 
deems it a duty devolving upon him to copy extracts 
from those letters which are inseparably connected with 
this narrative, and will be read witli interest by those 
who have witnessed the changes and vicissitudes of this 
little oasis of the desert. 

From the correspondence of the Rev. Mr. Winslow 
with the church and people of Houlton, we take the 
following extracts : 

Sterling, May 11, 1819. 

Dear Sir: — You being deacon of the little flock of 
Christ, and as a father among the people of Houlton 
Plantation, I would address this letter to you, and 
througli you to all those to whom I lately ministered, 
and for whom I shall ever entertain a firm friendship and 
affectionate remembrance. I need not recount the kind- 
ness and attention I received while among you, and from 
those who accompanied me homeward, which endeared 
you all to my heart ; nor need I advert to what was 
still more encouraging, the reception of the word I 
preached among j^ou — tlie joining of some to the body 
of Christ, and, as I trust, a spiritual union of others to 
him. Suffice it for me to say, that you were the object 
of ni}^ desire, and if it had been, and should appear to 
be my duty, I would live and die in your service. * * 
Nevertheless, there are many reasons which will offer 
themselves to your consideration ; such as the disadvan- 



40 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

tages of education — the want of ministerial aid and in- 
tercourse, &c., which strengthen my conviction that it 
is not my duty to accept your offer made. Having de- 
libei'ately examined the subject, and consulted judicious 
friends, who are in the ministry ; moved by strong feel- 
ings in your interests, I have prayerfully subu)itted tiie 
case to God, for His direction, and find myself at last con- 
strained to say, however unwelcome it may be to the 
people of Houlton, that it is my dut}" to remain where I 
am. * * but that in due time God will send to your relief^ 
one who shall be adai)ted to the station, and become a father 
in Christ to the children and youth, and a guide and 
instructor to all in spiritual and divine things. * * 

In 1819, Mr. Joseph Jones, foimerly of Falmouth, 
Me., removed fi'om the Province of New Brunswick to 
Houlton, with a nunieious family, who married and set- 
tled in Hoidton and vicinity. This family were re- 
markable for their taste and talent for music, both vocal 
and instrumental, and when together constituted a choir 
of themselves. 

But Death, that insatiate archer, with his quiver of 
arrows, has laid them low, one t)y one, until their choir 
on earth is broken, and several of tlieir i)hices are made 
vacant. 

The inha])itants of Houlton were disap[)ointed when 
the Rev. Mr. Wiiislow declined accepting their invita- 
tion to settle among them as their pastor, as the reader 
may infer from the foregoing extracts. 

During Mr. Winslow's mission, the inhabitants met 
for worship in a hall, in the dwelling-house of J. Houlton, 
Esq., which was spacious enough to convene the people 
of Houlton and our neighbors in the Province who 
united Avith us. This was an appropriate time, as it 
was esteemed to be, for devout praise and thanksgiving, 
and one long to be cherished among the most pleasing 
and profitable retrospections of that little Hock, who had 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 4I 

formerly enjoyed the blessings of the preached gospel 
under the pious instruction of our venerable friend, the 
Rev. Alpheus Harding, who ever evinced a deep and 
lively interest, both for the temporal and spiritual wel- 
faie of this branch of his former church and congrega- 
tion. 

After Mr. Winslow left, agreeable to his request, the 
inhabitants did not forsake assembling together on the 
Sabbath, for the social Avorship of Him who vouchsafes 
to bestow His s[)irit in answer to the fervent prayer of 
his faithful, believing followers; irrespective of place or 
circumstances, eitlier in the lowly cottage, the retired 
closet, or the solitary desert. His worshippers are not 
confined to Jerusalem to pay their homage, nor their 
devotions alone — 

In the gorgeous walls of the cathedral, 

Beneath the vaulted arch and towering spire, 

Where the organ's pealing notes in concert swell, 
To chant the songs of praise with vocal choir. 

As there were no records at that time, except the 
before-mentioned correspondence, we are happy to find 
the following letter' among others preserved as a precious 
memorial of the past : 

New Salem, May 9, 1820. 

My Dear Sir : — In behalf of the brethren of the church 
of ('hrist, in this town, I have a few things to commu- 
nicate to the church of Christ in Houlton Plantation; 
and as vou were longj a member and officer of this 
church, and probably the oldest member there, I have 
thought to make you the organ of communication. 

We heard that the church in Houlton Plantation was 
destitute of furniture suitable for the communion table : 
and as we are about to make some addition to the fur- 
niture we now have, the brethren have thought fit to 
make a present of a pait of the service now belonging 
to this church. We shall send by the bearer, Mr. Amos 



42 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

Putnam, two of the tankards which you used in com- 
memorating the sufferings and death of our dear Re- 
deemer, in tliis place. We give those as a pledge that 
we are still mindful of you, though far separated from 
us, and though they are of but little pecuniary value, 
yet being the vessels Ave have so often used on tliat solemn 
occasion, (and I trust I may add, in the unity of the 
spirit, and in the bond of peace, mutually loving one 
another, and desirous of one another's spiritual good,) 
we trust you will receive them as the strong pledge of 
our continued love, and as one of the strongest tokens 
of our earnest desire for your growth in grace, and in 
the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 
Those vessels, when you use them, and as often as you 
see them, will call to your remembrance former days ; 
and we pray the time may not be far distant, when you 
may again use them in the solemn service of the Lord, 
with all that mutual affection which the members of the 
same bod}^ ought to exercise towards one another, and 
with that sincere love of the brethren which the Apostle 
tells us, is the strongest of love to God. * * * * 
Brethren and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God 
is, that you may be blessed in your temporal and spirtual 
concerns, — that you maj^ live in love and peace, and that 
the (jod of love and peace may be with you. 

With these sentiments and feelings, I subscribe myself 
your servant in the Lord, 

Alpheus Harding. 

The above extract needs no comment, as a true por- 
traiture of the feelings and desires which were enter- 
tained and cherished by the Rev. Mr. Harding, and the 
members of the church in New Salem towards the scat- 
tered sheep, who were, and had been for years, in the 
wilderness without a shepherd. 

Mr. Amos Putnam, of New Salem, was accompanied 
by Messrs. Amos and Abraham Pearce, sons of A^arney 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 43 

Pejirce, Esq., of New Salem, who, for many years repre- 
sented tliat town in the Legislature of Mass., and was 
one of the most useful and influential citizens in that 
town, and was highly esteemed for his public services 
and private character, as a gentleman of strict integrity 
and moral worth. Those brothers, possessing a proprie- 
tary share in the half township, settled under favorable 
circumstances, and made valuable improvements. 

Feb. 7, 1821, a society was organized by the name of 
Instructive Companies, the object of which was moral 
and literary improvement. The members were as fol- 
lows : Samuel Kendall, Jr., Romaine L. Putnam, Joshua 
G. Kendall, Edwin Townsend, Edmund Coan, Stern 
Putnam, Jacob Harward, and Joseph Kendall. They 
were constitutionally bound to meet every Thursday 
evening from September to March. During the summer 
they were to meet the last Thursday in each month. 
This might be considered as a small beginning, neverthe- 
less there was an apparent improvement in the several 
compositions of the members during the operation of the 
society ; but soon our President removed to Woodstock, 
where he rendered himself useful as a teacher, and this 
society lost its organization. The crowding cares and 
duties inseparably connected with our laborious situation 
soon proved that our life did not consist in the rhvme 
and measure of poetry. Falling trees, chopping the 
logs and piling them together, burning and clearing off 
the brands, was no mere fancy work for delicate hands 
and frilled bosoms ; still the farmer, perhaps, realizes as 
much satisfaction and enjoyment as the literary and pro- 
fessional classes of men whose cares and duties are usu- 
ally augmented by their increased responsibilities, if 
conscientious in the discharge of their obligations, while 
the husbandman engages in his vocation, preparing the 
prolific soil, in the opening spring sowing the variety 
of seed, planting fruit trees, cultivating the garden. 



44 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

uniting the esculent with the oi-namental, hjoking for- 
ward, anticipating an ample remuneration for his labor ; 
daily witnessing the -progress of vegetation, from the 
tender blade to the ear, then the full corn and ripe 
fruit ; and then comes the autumnal gathering. 

" Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield, 
Their furrow ofc the stubborn glebe' has broke; 

How jocund did they drive their team afield, 
How bowed the wood beneath their sturdy stroke. 

Let not ambition mock their useful toil, 

Their homely joys, and destiny obscure ; 
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile, 

The short and simple annals of the poor." 

The writer, conforming to dates, in chronological order, 
must submit to many abrupt transitions, from tlie moral, 
sentimental and religious, to secular occurrences of 
business life. ^ 

In the summer, Ebenezei- Warner built a mill-dam 
and saw-mill near his residence at the falls of the south 
branch of the creek, it being a valuable privilege, two 
miles above A. Putnam's mill, at the village. 

In 1821, Mr. Timothy Frisbie, formerly from Frye- 
burg. Me., removed to Houlton from the Province of 
N. B., where he was, by death, bereaved of an affection- 
ate companion, leaving a husband and family of sons 
and daughters to mourn their irreparable loss. The fam- 
ily of Mr. Frisbie now constitute a portion of the most 
influential and enterprising inhabitants of Houlton and 
vicinity where they are settled. 

In July Mr. Holman Gary, Thomas Shaw and Haskell 
Gary left New Salem for Houlton, to visit their friends 
and see the country. 

In 1822, Deacon James Russell and family removed 
from Bloomfield to Houlton, where they resided a short 
time, then removed to Monticello, but soon after returned 
to Houlton, where they remained until the decease of 
Deacon Russell, whom we shall have occasion to mention 
more particularly hereafter. 



HISTORY OF IIOULTON. 45 

The inhabitants of Houlton, still soliciting missionary 
iiid, the Rev. Mr. Harding replies in answer to their com- 
munication, as follows : 

New Salem, Feb. 16, 1822. 

Your letter, dated Dec. 29, past, favored by Esquiie 
Houlton, I have received, and read with much interest. 
I am very sensible, dear sir, of the unpleasant situation 
in which you ai'e placed, in regard to Christian privi- 
leges and ordinances ; and have no doubt your situation 
will meet the sympathy of the Evangelical Missionary 
Society. Agreeably to the i-equest of tlie inhabitants, 
expressed by you, as their agent, I will present your 
situation before the executive committee of that society. 
* * I do not know the exact state of the funds at the 
present time, nor whether they will be able to send a mis- 
sionary the piesent year. If they should, I will exert 
my influence to have one who shall not only have the 
common qualifications of a missionary in a teacher of 
religion, but one who may be peculiarly qualified for 
your particular situation ; one who will seek for the pro- 
motion and prosperity of the people, in a temporal as 
well as spiritual view. What you intimate in 30ur letter 
about my visiting you, has been a subject of conversa- 
tion between Esquire Pearce, Col. Putnam and myself, 
before receiving your letter, and we had come to the 
conclusion to visit your plantation in company, when a 
road should be made passable from Bangor theie. But, 
dear sir, you are sensible that such an agreement could 
not have been made without some preliininar}- conditions. 
These conditions were so numerous that I hardly dare 
promise myself the pleasure of such a visit. The prin- 
cipal conditions on my part wei'e, the health of my fam- 
ily and the situation of the parish. * * * Should 
health be restored in my family, or so far restored that 
duty would not demand my particular attention at home, 
and the circumstances uf the oarish be such as in the 



46 HISTORY OF HOULTON". 

view of judicious members of the church and sncietv 
would warrant an absence of three or four months, I 
shall fulfil my engagements with Esquire Penrce and 
Colonel Putnam, and with them visit you in the course 
of a year or two, or as soon as a road shall be passable 
from Bangor to Houlton Plantation. * * * 

I remain, as always, your constant friend and devoted 
servant in our common Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Alpheus Harding. 

I)ea. Samuel Kendall. 

We presume our estimable friend did not then anticipate 
seeing the day when he could take a passage on the 
rail car from Bangor to Oldtown, thence up the liver, 
nearly half the distatice to Houlton, on board the steam- 
boat; or of a i-ailroad so far in progress, on the same 
route ; nor when the people of this county would be 
looking to the time not far distant, when tiie iron 
horse, with his shrill neigh, warning his approach, would 
come laden to exchange commodities for the products of 
Aroostook. We rejoice that Maine is not without her 
distinguished sons, who possess polic}^ forecast and acu- 
men, whose influence and talents are arrayed with the 
wisdom and experience of successful advocates upon the 
subject of this noble ei.terprise, and we hope, ere long, 
Maine will prove her efficiency, by engaging more fully 
in this contemplated gigantic work of philanthropy, 
which will open an avenue to north-eastern Maine for 
the encouragement and signal benefit of an increasing 
population, ot a hardy, stalwart yeomanry, possessing in- 
dustry, enterprise and intelligence, who will develop the 
resources of this extensive domain, converting the foi'est 
to "fruitful fields," when the hills and valleys shall 
echo with the bleating of flocks and lowing of herds. 
Such a people may be denominated the bone and sinew 
of a nation — yea, constitute the safeguard and stability 
of a republic. 



HISTORY OF HOUI.TON, 47 

We congratulate our British neiglibors in the prospect, 
ere long, of the completion of the St. Andrews railroad, 
«p to the latitude of Woodstock and Houlton, and in 
longitude nearly equi-distant between the two places. 

In March, 1822, Moses White, Esq., and Jason Cuni- 
niings, being apprised of the exorbitant prices of various 
articles of trade at Houlton and ia the Province, left 
Bangor witli a load of goods, which the_y conveyed with 
a horse-team upon the ice up the Penobscot and Matta- 
wanikeag rivers, from thence they hauled them on to- 
bogfiins^ as the Indians call them, a sort of sled with 
one runner, made of birch-bark, a foot or eighteen inches 
wide, and about six feet long. Finding their fireworks 
damp, their only alternative was to camp without fire, 
which must have been rather a cool berth for them at 
tliat season, and though they removed the snow with a 
shovel, for a place to lie, yet they were without shelter, 
save the woods, with each a blanket in which to en- 
veloj-) himself, they la}' themselves down upon their 
l)ed of boughs, if not to the embrace of somnus and de- 
lectable dreanjs, at least with the forlorn prospect of 
suffering endurance till morning, which must have been 
admirably verified. After breakfasting upon their frozen 
fare and cold beverage, they traveled through to Houlton, 
where they sold their goods at advanced prices for fur, 
which was then an object of speculation. 

There having been grants of townships in this new 
section of country, to several institutions, the attention 
of capitalists was attracted eastward, with a view of 
speculating in wild lands. But with some it proved an 
unfortunate enterprise, Nathaniel Ingersoll, Esq., of 
New Gloucester, having an interest in Williams College 
Grant to the amount of |6o00, and in Westfovd Academy 
Grant of $3500, frequently visited Houlton, with a view 
ultimately, of an advantageous sale, which, at the time 
of liis pui'chase. might have been considered, at least, a 



48 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

safe investment. But the tide of emigration continued 
westward, and those lands remained in their primeval 
state, notwithstanding all the inducements which could 
reasonably be offered to settlers by proprietors at that 
time, consequently this venerable gentleman sacrificed 
•f 8,000 of -110,000 invested in those two grants. 

Doctor Samuel Rice, after a residence of twelve years 
at Houlton, having been our physician, and improved 
from a forest state a valuable farm, with good buildings, 
removed to Woodstock, where his practice was greatly 
increased, but much to the inconvenience of the people 
of Houlton and vicinity. The absence of himself and 
family made a great void in our society. They were 
highly esteemed, and by his removal the inhabitants 
sustained the loss of a valuable physician, citizen and 
friend. Prior to his removal from New Salem, he was 
the most popular physician of that town, and during 
his residence at Houlton he had an extensive practice — 
receiving frequent calls from the Province, of from ten 
to fifty miles distant, with which he complied at all 
seasons, however inclement the weather, or unfavorable 
the circumstances, and was conscientious in his charges. 

During the summer Messrs. James and Peleg Lander, 
sons of Thomas Lander, of Fairfield, came to Houlton, 
where they became residents. 

In the winter, Messrs. Wadleigh, Ayer and Stinson 
came from Bangor Avith several loads of goods, hauled 
by horses harnessed one before the other, following the 
Penobscot, Mattawamkeag, and Baskahegan upon the 
ice, from thence making the shortest transit to Houlton, 
that being the depot for those forest merchants. Their 
goods being subject to high duties, the people from the 
Province came there for various articles. 

At that time Houlton began to bear the appearance 
of a sort of miniature forest 7narket. Those speculators 
increased their stock, as well thev might, where goods 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 49 

sold at such exorbitant prices. The reader must eitlier 
suppose that money was very plent}', or of but Httle 
value, or that thick, cowhide boots were a scarce article, 
to command the California price of nine dollars a pair, 
whicli has lieeii paid for those brought to Houlton. No 
wonder that young men of enterprise, engaged in the 
transportation of goods through the Avoods, as it was 
called, from Bangor to Houlton, even though they had 
to travel on the ice of those serpentine streams, driving 
their horses tandem upon a zigzag path for many miles 
in the woods to their place of destination, for their tav- 
ern bills for entertainment, at that time, from Bangor to 
Houlton, must have been rather small. 

The}', o'er the ice bound, fettered streams, 

Pursued their journey, long and cold ; 
While sparkling snow in sunlight gleamed, 

Their treasures in the forest sold. 

The long winter evenings were occupied by the youth 
in the social and improving study and practice of vocal 
music, who were instructed by Mr. Putnam Shaw, who 
also taught day school in the usual branches, in both of 
which he received a liberal patronage. 

In the spring of 1828, Mr. Holman Gary and family 
removed from New Salem to Houlton, and were greeted 
with a cordial welcome by their former acquaintances 
and friends, as an acquisition to our little circle, which 
had drawn on the old Bay State, principally for what 
they then were. In the autumn, James and Peleg Lander, 
having purchased the mill of Aaron Putnam Avhich was 
built in 1810, lemoved it and erected a new saw mill 
upon the same site, which proved valuable property, — 
pine timber being abundant, and commanding a high 
price at the principal markets. Mr. Joseph Stevens and 
family removed from Fredericton, N. B., to Houlton, 
where the}- resided. Mr. Stevens was esteemed as an 
active, useful artisan. 



50 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

Ill October, 1824, Moses White, Esq., left Houlton 
for Winthrop, accompanied to Bangor by Amos Putnam, 
Jacob Haskell and Joseph Kendall, who were bound for 
New Salem, their native place. On our arrival there, 
we could but exclaim, " What a change even ten years 
have made in that place I " The youth had grown up ; 
many had removed, and others died ; but there stood 
the old meeting-house, with its " church-going bell," 
Avhich had so long marked the time for Qatherincr the 
worshipping assembly, who softly trod the " long drawn 
aisle " to their respective pews, with button doors and 
seats which, with liinges, rise and fall ; the spacious 
gallery, with its new choir, whose voices resounding 
" praise divine," — and more than all, the pulpit, with its 
former occupant, whose familiar voice was melody to the 
ears of his long absent auditors, from whose lips the}'- 
early received wise and judicious instruction and admo- 
nition, which are ineffaceably impressed upon our mem- 
ories, as are his venerable form and features. There, in 
the cemetery, stands the monuments of the departed, 
with the moss-grown epitaphs over the graves of our 
revered ancestors, which remind us of the destiny of all 
succeeding generations. A few rods distant stands the 
house of our birth-place, where the light first dawned 
upon our " infant vision." The garden, too, with its 
stone-wall enclosure, and its choice fruit trees, which 
through our chamber windows used to cast their shadows 
in the radiance of the morning sun-beams, — these were 
not all there ; the corrodings of time had lessened their 
number and marred their beauty, and tlie tall pear tree, 
divested of its verdure and robbed of its golden treas- 
ure, stood near, and the orchard at the north, which 
produced its variety of specific fruit, where, for the 
celebration of the anniversary of our Nation's brithday, 
the people assembled beneath its shade, seated around 
the long spread table, loaded with delicious viands. At 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 5 1 

the head were the clergyman and the Hon. Samuel C. 
Allen, who announced the patriotic toasts which were 
signalized by the repeated roar of the old cannon. But 
the ruthless liand of Time seems to suggest to us the inter- 
ogatorv of where are now those o'uests who met on that 
joyful festival, — that devoted band of patriots and philan- 
thropists, whose bosoms then glowed with love to God and 
man ? How few there are left whose mortal remains 
have not long slept in the narrow house, but whose 
spirits have flown to their ultimate reward. 

" Can storied urn or animated bust 

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ? 

Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust. 
Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death ? 

Perhnp"* in that neglected spot is laid 
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire ; 

Hands that the rod of empire might have swaj'ed, 
Or waked to ecstacy the living lyre." 

The grave, that cannibal of flesh, has gorged its 
millions, yet wiser, if not better, each succeeding gen- 
eration grows, and onward is the motto of the present 
age ; and what will not yet be achieved, since, by the 
blessing of God, success has crowned the efforts made 
in the construction of the Atlantic telegrapli. AVho can 
now name an object of so vast magnitude and practical 
bearing upon the family of mankind, that would require 
the united skill, art, science and indomitable persever- 
ance of two natives, or even the world ? Canals, rail- 
roads, team-bridges and telescopes have been brought to 
an astonished perfectability, and, to cap the climax, 
lightning has come, as Heaven's vicegerent, tracing the 
submarine cable, annihilating time and distance, as if to 
aid in the mighty reform when a nation shall be born 
in a da}'! Who, then, shall doubt the fulfilment, and, 
ere long, of the prophecy of Isaiah, in its spiritual 
sense, " when the wolf also, shall dwell with the lamb, 
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the 



52 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

calf and the young lion, and the fatling together ; and 
a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the 
bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together ; 
and the suckling child shall play on the hole of the 
asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the 
cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destro}^ in all 
my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." 

Who will not then join in the universal anthem of 
'• Glory to God in the highest:, peace on earth, good 
will to men." 

In February, 1824, Messrs. Zebulon and Nathaniel, 
sons of Nathaniel Ingersoll, Senior, of New Gloucester, 
of whom mention hus been made, left Bangor in com- 
pany with James Babcock, with five or six hundred 
dollars worth of goods, destined for Iloulton. They 
came on the ice of the Penobscot, Mattawamkeag and 
Baskahegan rivers, thence following a newly cut road 
for horses and sleighs to pass. On this route is a horse- 
back, as it is called, upon which the road passes four or 
five miles, running nearly north and south, crossing an 
extensive bog of two or three miles in width, which 
lies about sixteen miles south from Houlton. This 
horseback is, what some would style, one of nature's 
accidental developments — a mere production of blind 
chance, void of design or plan; but we would rather 
ascribe the construction of that turnpike (just wide 
enough for teams to pass, without falling down a de- 
clivity of twenty-five or thirty feet into a marsh which 
forms a striking contrast to that formidable highway,) 
to the universal Architect, by whom it appears to have 
been made to facilitate transportation for man, the lord 
of His creation and creature of His care. We are in- 
formed that this horseback, with but little interruption, 
excepting where the diverging streams are wont to pass, 
extends in a northerl}' direction through Amity, No. 11, 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 53 

Hoclgdoii, Houlton, and continues on the same course 
to an indefinite distance, assuming, as it does, in many 
places, a more formidable ridge than above described, 
until it becomes lost in the swells of Aroostook. These 
traders having arrived at Houlton, Mr. Z, Ingersoll re- 
mained in the vicinity and engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness in company with Messrs. Joseph and Henr^^ Houlton, 
in the valley of the Aroostook, in which enterprise they 
were successful. Mr. Ingersoll, for many years, was 
lather a transient inhabitant of Honlt<m ; and still he 
might, with propriety, be styled such, although himself 
and famil}' have long been residents of the place ; yet 
he is a land-holder in Iowa, which calls his attention 
there more or less annually. 

Mr. Stephen PuUen, a native of Waterville, a man of 
industry and enterprise, removed from New Brunswick 
to Houlton and purchased the farm of Doctor S. Rice, 
for which lie paid 5^1400. 

During the summer Rev. Mr. Howden, a Scotch Pres- 
byterian from the Province, visited Houlton with his 
family, where he preached several Sabbaths, with whom 
the inhabitants were pleased, and made an effort to build 
him a house, with a view of enjoying his ministerial 
labors as their settled pastor. But on a more mature 
deliberation of the subject — considering the limited re- 
sources of the church and people, and the requirements 
necessary for their support, the anticipated relation was 
relinquished. 

In the autumn Mr. Shepard Carv arrived at Houlton 
from New Salem, his native place. 

Messrs. Palmer & Cowen, from Kennebec, with a nu- 
merous herd of cattle and horses, came through to 
Houlton. Soon after Mr. John Basford, Deputy Sheriff 
from Augusta, accompanied by Messrs. Black and Rollins, 
arrived v.ith twelve horses and goods to a considerable 
amount, which were principally sold in the Pi'ovince. 



54 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 



Mr. Basfoi'd attached a part of the stock driven by said 
Palmer and Cowen, by virtne of a precept from Au- 
gusta. Mr. Basford has since remained, an active and 
useful resident of FToulton. 

About this time Messrs. Kimball & Stii.son came, also, 
with horses and goods. Horses, oxen, and commodities 
of all kinds even to the equipage of sleighs, haruesses, 
(fee., were disposed of without sacrifice. Three young 
men, viz.: Steward, Hutchinson and Colboth, shoemakers, 
came to Houlton from Kennebec, and worked at their 
trade in a small building on the bank of the creek. 
Mr. James Gould, a native of Berwick, blacksmith, re- 
moved to Houlton, where he commenced business, and 
succeeded as a skillful workman. 

In the summer of 18'25, Messrs. Whiie, Cummings, 
Eastern and Babcock left Bangor with eight horses and 
several bateaux loaded with goods, destined for Houlton, 
following their accustomed route. We believe that this 
was the first effort made to convey goods of any consid- 
erable amount, by water craft to this part of the country. 
Leaving their bateaux at Baskahegan they transported 
the loads on horses a distance of about twent}^ miles to 
the transient home of those traders. About this time 
Daniel Bracket, a native, (we believe), of Limerick, 
came to Houlton and worked with Mr. Gould at the 
anvil. 

Juhn Matherson, a native of Scotland, removed from 
the Province to Houlton. Mr. Matherson informed the 
writer that he raised from his first clearing of five acres, 
200 bushels of wheat ; ten do. of corn ; 100 do. of pota- 
toes ; 25 do. of turnips, and a cart-load of pumpkins, 
which, estimated at the prices for which those articles 
of produce then sold, ^A'ould amount to about $472. 

October 7, 1825, was signalized by a fire, which pre- 
vailed in this region of country and in the Province of 
New Brunswick, Miramichi appeared the most distin- 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 55 

guished for its dreadful ravages, hence, it derived the 

appellation of the "• Miramichi fire." 

The wind, like Sirocco, for days had blown, 
And night's sable mantle o'er earth was thrown ; 
While the fire appeared from heaven to couie down, 
On woodland and plain, on hamlet and town. 

While darkness profound pervaded the night ; 
The contrast dire, made more vivid the light. 
Like the flash of cannon and the sheen of war. 
Which rendered more frightful the midnight hour. 

So great was the destruction of tliat place, that huij- 
(b'eds of the inhabitants perished. The writer was in- 
formed by Mr. Newman, a native of Miramichi, but a 
i-esident of Houlton, Avho witnessed th;tt tragical scene,, 
that the village of Newcastle, and Donglasstown, three 
miles below, were lioth consumed. Tiie fire came upon 
them so suddenly that they could make no preparation, 
— surprising them, as it did, in the night, the people 
were obliged to flee from their houses, for refuge, to 
caves and wells, — children were crying for their parents, 
and parents, frantic with grief and despair, for their 
children. The animals instinctively run for the rivers 
and streams. There were instances, we were informed, 
where the lives of individuals were preserved by holding 
on to them while swimming. The waters did not "be- 
come'blood," but were so impregnated with smoke and 
ashes, as to kill the fish — the salmon died in their native 
element. The scene, to the inhabitants of Miramichi, 
who, at that time, were an amalgamation of different 
nations, must have been not unlike that which was fore- 
told of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the day of 
judgmc'nt, in the 2oth chapter of Mathew, "neither let 
him that is in the field return back to take his clothes,'' 
&c. Many who fled to the river were drowned, among 
whom a family, (husband, wife and children,) while 
endeavoring to cross the river in a canoe, from Douglass 
to Chatham, a. distance of about two miles, were over- 
whelmed bv the waves and all lost. 



56 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

Those in the forest that were remote from tlie river 
and streams, and had nowhere to flee for refuge, fell 
victims to the raging element. From a party, of seven 
men engaged lumbering, only one escaped to relate the 
intelligence of the sad fate of his companions ; and his 
life was saved by literally bur^dng himself in mud. 
These instances of mortality were no isolated cases, but 
Ave mention them as giving a general idea of the condi- 
tion of those who perished during that storm of wind 
and fire. 

The people being left houseless, many became objects 
of public charity, for the town was totally destroyed ; 
but they soon were relieved by the proffered aid, in 
clothing, provisions, »&c., which were brought in ship- 
loads from England and the States. The drouth pro- 
ceeding this, was so extreme, having had no rain, but 
heavy dews, for three months in that vicinity, the 
streams and springs that were never known to be dry, 
furnished no water ; the fire extended through the wil- 
derness in the low lands, where there was much tni-f, 
and burnt the trees down by the roots, leaving the for- 
est, in man}^ places, in a state of ruin worse than that 
of a tornado. 

The wilderness of the Miramichi country consisted 
veiy much of pine, and for many years had been the 
theatre of lumber operations which, in a measure, ac- 
counts for the more dreadful destruction in that region, 
both for man and beast. In places the green pine groves 
were entirely consumed, leaving the ground a barren 
waste. There were the fallen leaves, dry as tinder, and 
other combustibles common to the forest — the wind, 
which always accompanies a conflagration — the fire catch- 
ing in the bark and moss of trees, flaming to their tops, 
scattering broad-cast the flying leaves and cinders ; — 
no. wonder that the fire had the appearance of descend- 
ing from heaven, amid the atmosphere of smoke. Neither 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 57 

is it SO much a subject of iistoinshment, that some even 
thought that the time of the final judgment had com- 
menced, as that Millerism should so far have fanaticized 
the people, as to have furnished so many subjects for 
the. Insane hospital. It must have been a time of terror 
and disma}' to the most daring and intrepid. 

What rendered tlie fire more extraordinary was, that 
on the 7th of October it prevailed simultaneously in the 
various sections of Maine, as well as in the Province 
of New Brunswick. On that day a large portion of 
Fredericton was burned, while the fire was spi-eading at 
the Oromucto, and at the same time the inhabitants of 
Houlton and the adjacent county were suffering more or 
less from its ravages, especially by the damage done to 
their woodlands and maple orchards. The valuable tim- 
ber-lands in the Penobscot region was a scene of confla- 
gration, wliich not onl}^ consumed a vast amount of pine 
timber, but ruined the soil, and at the same time was 
doing its woik of destruction at the Piscataquis. For 
weeks the atmosphere exhibited the dense body of 
smoke, which obscured the sun as, at times, to produce 
the darkness of twilight, at noon-day. All eyes were 
suffused with tears from the sable cloud which pervaded 
the country, and the poor animals were swollen almost 
to suffocation. 

This, at that time, must have had more the appear- 
ance of a visitation of the displeasure of the Almighty, 
than anything of modern history which had transpired ; 
and that he would presume to isolate the people of Mir- 
amichi as the lone subjects of providential discipline — 
no ; far be it from us to pass judgment upon any ; but 
we have been informed that Miramichi had become no- 
torious as a lumber depot, and a rendezvous for the 
profligate, licentious and profane, and that gambling, de- 
bauchery, and desecration of the Sabbath there prevailed ; 
we have thought it possible that this severe chastisement 



58 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

was signally directed by Him who does not willingly 
afflict His creatures, but to callus to a sense of our ac- 
countability to our rightful Sovereign. 

But the discussion of this subject may appear foreign 
to our purpose, and we will not dwell upon the merits 
or demerits of this extraordinary occurrence. 

Perhaps the w riter may be considered too general and 
prolix in the descript'on of this fire, as Hoidton was not 
the theatre of its triumph ; but we feel that tlie extent 
and universality of this singular event, may atone for 
our having so far departed from the limits of our legit- 
imate sphere. 

AVe have acquainted our readers with the incidents 
connected with the settlement of this town, and in 
drawing to a close it seems necessary to state that with 
the exception of one person, Lysander Putnam, all of 
the early settlers have gone to their long home. The 
following is partly a repetition of what has already been 
stated, but being in a condensed form will be very val- 
uable to preserve : 

Houlton is the shire t nvn of Aroostook County, is 
situated on the easteiii border of Maine, and is 230 
miles from Portland, via the old " Military Road " from 
Bangor. The Houlton Branch of the N. B. & C. Rail- 
way was completed in 1870. From here start the stage- 
routes to Presque Isle, Caribou, Fort Fairfield, IJnneus, 
Danforth and Patten, in Maine, and Woodstock, in New 
Biunswick. 

The town is bounded on the north by Littleton, south 
b}^ Hodgdon, west by New Limerick, and east by Rich- 
mond, in New Brunswick. In the northwestern part of 
the town are two large "Horse-backs;" but the surface 
generally lies in large swells. The soil is a deep, rich 
loam, underlaid by clay and yielding abundantly of the 
usual farui cropsi i The Moduxnekeag river, a branch of 
the Siiint Johnffloivs from southwest to northeast through 



HISTORY OF HOLiLTON. 59 

the midst of the town. Bog, Moose, and Cook Brooks, 
tiibutiiiies of tlie Meduxnekeag, are the other principal 
streams. The powers on the river are known as the 
Gary, Page & Madigan, Mam, Logan, Mansiir, Cressej'" 
and Houlton A\ater powers. The manufacturing is 
chiefly on the Cary power in the southwestern part of 
the town, and on the Cressey and Houlton powers, in 
this village. Ther<^ are two cheese factories, two starch 
factories, a woolen mill, three lumljer mills, three flour 
mills, one tannery, one iron foundry and machine shop, 
two printing offices, sash, blind and door factory. 

Oilier manufactures are bark extract, harnesses, hoots 
and shoes, cariiages, marble-work, etc. Houlton also 
contains express and telegraph offices, custom house, 
l)hotographer's saloon, one hook-bindery, five liotels, 
three livery stables, three tailoiing establishments, three 
drug stores, two insurance figencies, one savings bank 
and one national bank, four saloons, one bakery, two 
barbei-shops, t\AO public halls, six churches, forty-eight 
stoix's, one bowling-alle}', two billiard rooms and one 
skating rink. Our fire department consists of one steamer, 
hand-tub, hook-and-ladder truck, and a chemical engine. 
This town is also blessed (?) with eight doctors, eight- 
teen lawyers, and two dentists. 

Houlton is the center of trade for the county, and is a 
bus}' and thrifty to>vn. The village has many handsome 
residences, and there are several well-shaded and very 
attractive streets. The Houlton Savings Bank, in May, 
1881, held -160,000 in deposits, from its 500 depositors. 

There are two weekly newspapers published in the 
village, the " Aioostook Pioneer " and the " Aroostook 
Times." The " Pioneer," the first newspaper in the 
county, was established in Presque Isle, Dec. 1857, by 
W. S. Oilman, and Avas moved to Houlton in 1868. 
The '-Times*' was established in 1860, by Theodore 
Cirv. 



6o HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

The Houlton Aeadem}' has done noble service in the 
cause of education. Many who have ah-eady gone out 
from its walls have achieved distinction in their callings, 
and there is every reason to hope that its future work 
will surpass that of its earlier period. The building is 
a good one and occupies ample grounds. 

In 1868 a telegraph line was stretched from Wood- 
stock, N. B. to Houlton, through the efforts of W. S. 
Gilman. 

In 1830, a military station Avas established here by the 
national government, but the troops were removed in 
1847, during the war with Mexico. The barracks occu- 
pied a position on the outskirts of the village near the 
railwa}'' station, and have long since fallen to decay. 
The Aroostook County meridian line is established on 
the eastern side of the parade ground. A soldiers' cem- 
etery is near by. 

The county court-house and jail occupy a central po- 
sition in the village. Houlton has nine public school- 
houses ; and the entire public school propert}^ in land and 
buildings is valued at 'flOOO. The valuation of estates 
in 1870 was #681,646. In 1880 it was $725,469. The 
population in 1870 was 2,850. In 1880 it was 3,228. 



APPENDIX. 



The following copies of old documents relating to the 
early history of Houlton, were kindly furnislied us by 
J. F. Pratt. M. D., of Chelsea, Mass. They are petitions 
to the great and general court of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts, for the incorporation of the Plantation 
into a town : 

To the Honbl. Senate and House of Representatives 
in General Court Assembled at Boston, Jan. 1810 : The 
Petition of the Subscril)ers Humbly Shewith: That your 
Petitioners are situated very remote from any Incopo- 
rated Towns within this Commonwealth (at least one 
hurdred miles), which makes it very necessary that we 
should be Incoporated into a Town. Our Infant Set- 
tlement we hope and expect will rapidly increase pro- 
vided we can have some small Indulgance of Govern- 
ment. The Inconveniences which we labor under in our 
present situation must most clearly be seen by your 
Honors, but we beg" leave to state few particulars. In 
the first place we beg leave to observe that we were 
from a country where we were always acustomed to have 
regular Preaching & Schools regularly established ; which 
we can never have established here in our Unincoporated 
State. Nor can we open Roads to any advantage, either 
to accomodate ourselves or the Publick, and we beg 
leave further to observe that many things which are mat- 
ter of Record which happens in any Settlement, such as 
marriages, intentions of marriage, Berths, Deaths &c.. 



62 HISTORY OF HOULTON. 

all required by law to be recorded. We are sensible 
that we have the privilidge of going to the next Inco- 
porated Town, but when your Honors turn your atten- 
tion for a moment to our local situation, being one hun- 
dred and Ten from any Incorporated Town & that thro 
a Wilderness without Road our advantage dwindles into 
nothing. We therefore Pray your Honors that we may 
be Incorporated by the following bounds vis. Begining 
on the Boundary line of the United States at tlie South 
East Corner of a Tract of Land granted to New Salem 
Academy and thence West 13^ North six miles, to the 
Southwesterly corner of said Grant, thence North 13'^ 
East Three miles. Thence East 13" South six miles to 
the North East Corner of said Grant on the Boundary 
line, thence on the Boundary line to the first bounds, 
witli all the privilidges that other Towns witliin this 
commonwealth Injoy, to be Incorporated by the name of 
Houlton. We are sensible that it is the usual custom 
to require an " Order of Notice " before an act of In- 
corporation is passed, but when our situation is taken 
into view that our being Incorporated or not being In- 
corporated, concerns none but ourselves, we hope the 
usual custom of Notifycation will be dispensed witli and 
an Act of Incorporation Granted. And fully relying on 
your goodness we as in duty bound shall ever pray. 

Plantation of Holton, Sept. 5th 1809. 

(Signed) 

Joseph Houlton, Samuel Cook, James Houlton, John 
Allen, Joseph Gooduough, Samuel Houlton, Benjamin 
Marshall. 

The following in another hand writing is at bottom of 
Petition — "• 4 famalies Aaron Putnam moved since the 
Petition was drawn." 

In Senate, Jan. 26, 1810. Read and committed to the^ 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 63 

standing committee on Incorporation of Towns and to 
consider and leport. 

Sent down for concurrence, 

N. G. Otis, Prest. 
In House of Reps. Jan. 27, 1810. 
Read and concurred. 

Timothy Bigelow, Speaker. 

The committee of both houses appointed to consider 
application for the Incorporation of Towns, Districts, etc. 
On the Petition of Jesse Houlton & others praying to 
be Incorporated in a Town, Ask leave to Report that 
the Petitioners have leave to Withdraw, which is sub- 
mitted, 

Salem Town, per order. 
In Senate, Feb. 20, 1810. Read and accepted. 
Sent down for concurrence. 

N. G. Otis, Prest. 
In the House of Reps. Feb. 21, 1810. 
Read and concurred. 

T]MOTHY BiGELOW, Speaker. 



To the Honerable Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the commonwealth of Massachusetts in General 
Couit Assembled. The subscribers hereby respectfully 
represent that they are inhabitants of a certain tract of 
laud, given by the Legislature to the trustees of New 
Salem Academy and situated in the North District of 
the County of Washington. That they are at the dis- 
tance of nearly one hundred miles from any Incorporated 
Town in the District aforesaid ; that they also labor un- 
der many and great inconveniencey from the want of 



64 



HISTORY OF HOULTON. 



authority to raise monies for making and repairing high- 
ways & bridges within this Phmtation, for supporting 
a school for the instruction of their children & youth 
and for maintaining the ministry among them, as far as 
tlieir numbers & correspondent ability may admit, the im- 
portance of which will be duly appreciated by the Leg- 
islature. These with many other considerations induce 
us to solicit the Legislatuie to grant us an act Incor- 
porating the Plantation of Houlton so called together 
with the Half Township Granted to Groton Academy, 
which is bounded & described as by the Plan tlitueof in 
the Land office as will apjjear into a Town by the name 
of Houlton with all the powers & privileges possessed 
by other Licoi'})orated Town in the commonwealth and 
as in duty bound will ever Pray. 

[Signed] 



Samuel Kendall, 
Joseph Houlton, 
Aaron Putnam, 
Joseph Kendall, 
Joseph Goodman, 
James Houlton, 
William Wilkins, 
Samuel Cook, 
Amos Putnam. 



Edmund Cone, 
Eben Warner, 
Joshua G. Kendall, 
Michael O 'Brian, 
Samuel Houlton, 
James U. Taylor, 
Edward Townsend, 
Samuel Rice, 



Oct. 30, 1818. 







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